Let the Games Begin
by Piercing Thorn
Summary: Meet Mai T.; an electronics heiress hiding out in New York in hopes of a normal life. Meet Kazuya S./ Naru; an honorary FBI agent with psyichic abilities and a dark past. When fate brings these two together what will happen in deadly a race against time?
1. Chapter 1

so a new story is up because it been buggin me for a while. some good news MaiXNaru fans, i looked on the wiki they have and according to the author of the series, Mai and Naru were alway suppossed to be a couple but because they'd rather write horror than romance it never happened leaving it to us to do the work for them.

disclaimer: i own absolutely nothing, not even this plot. this comes from an author that wrote for another show. i really liked the story but they never finished it and haven't touched their account for at least four years now. so i wanted to try my hand at making a NaruXMai story out of the plot though i tried to deviate from their plot and reword things so it didn't sound so similar. Consider it my tribute to the author since i'm a big fan of their work. anyways enjoy

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><p><em>Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! <em> Mai groaned before smacking the alarm clock on her nightstand. Instead all she felt was the pain of slapping her hand on the hard oak surface. Grumbling in pain, Mai sat up and rolled out of bed, eyes scanning the room for her still beeping alarm clock. Finally locating it on her desk at the far side of the room.

Scowling Mai went over to the spot and smacked the alarm clock so hard, not only did it stop beeping, but the neon numbers died out too. Mai rolled her eyes; this was the sixth alarm clock she'd broken in four months. Looking once more at the clock on her desk Mai noticed a note addressed to her.

_Mai-_

_I know you're probably going to be mad at me, but you really need to get your behind in gear and get going on your thesis, the thing you should have decided on months ago. Anyways I have some things I want to talk with you about so if you could meet me on campus at around 12 o'clock I'll take you out for lunch. Until then you can find me on the campus library. Let me know if you can't make it._

_-__Yasuhara_

_p.s. we're out of coffee mix, please try and get some while you're out and about today._

Mai sighed; she should've expected that Yasu would pull something like that. She knew that he was just trying to help her, but sometimes he could be a real pain in the neck. Yasu had long ago decided to study psychology and the criminal mind. But for Mai there was just too much she was interested in. At first, she wanted to study classic literature, but then again she also liked theatre, and then of course there was always something to be said about the field of paranormal research, a growing field of industry so the school had opted to include it. Mai shook her head, every time she thought about this she always ended up with a massive headache.

'_And besides,'_ Mai thought, _'they never go anywhere productive.'_

The twenty one year old sighed again; well at least with him gone she could get ready at her own leisure. Mai started the kettle and took out her secret stash of tea leaves and placing it on the counter. Then she headed into the shower. She checked her cell phone clock, 7:30 am, not too bad for time considering how much of it was always eaten up by trivial things.

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><p>A man sat behind a large wooden desk, checking over multiple files. None of the latest cases from the police were nothing that animals couldn't explain yet they kept sending them so they'd have less work to do. The man sighed, such a waste of time. Suddenly a pink-haired woman stepped into the office.<p>

"Hey Lin," she said with a big bright smile, "any new cases yet?"

"There's always plenty more cases Madoka." Lin answered, "But none of them are anything more than animal related phenomena. Noll wouldn't want something like that now would he?"

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><p>"Ah, nothing like a hot cup of tea after a nice warm shower." Mai mused as she moved about in her bathrobe. Mai was deliberating the merits of making some sunny side up eggs and bacon or just having a bowl full of cold cereal before heading out when a large manila envelope by the door caught her eye.<p>

'_Hmm, I don't remember seeing that before.'_

Mai thought as she bent over and picked it up. The folder/ envelope might have been Yasu's, but he didn't leave anything behind that might be of any importance, that's how focused on his work he was. It didn't seem too menacing, but Mai's thoughts took a turn for the worst when she saw the name scrawled across the top. Her thoughts went to her "family" back in Tokyo.

Five years ago, Mai had left Tokyo to attend college in America. She wanted to be fully independent, her "father" insisted paying for everything but Mai protested against it and only allowed him to pay for her tuition. She even stopped using Taniyama as her last name, granted that she was adopted and her adoptive father's last name was Takigawa, but in Japan she was known as Mai Taniyama, daughter to Hoshou Takigawa and heir to the Taniyama electronics company. Of which her adoptive father was director. Mai just wanted a normal life and to be able to make a name for herself without the help nor prestige of the Taniyama name.

So instead, Mai had taken the maiden name of Hoshou's wife Ayako. Now in America, where the Taniyama name was rarely known, she was Mai Matsuzaki. Though her father had only let her come because he had contacts in New York so it would be easy for her if she ever needed help. Mai shook her head once more.

'_That's silly'_ Mai thought, _'I'm just worrying too much. They'd call if anything was amiss.'_

Yet that didn't ease the feeling of apprehension coiling in her gut by just looking at the ominous packaging piece she held in her hand. Though why it was so ominous, she had no idea. She knew it just couldn't be a simple case of Yasu dropping it on the way out.

Mai's suspicions were confirmed as she turned the envelope over to find her name neatly scrawled across the top. However, it wasn't the fine print that caught Mai's eye. It was the fact that this was addressed to Mai _Taniyama_, not Mai Matsuzaki. No one, not even Yasu, knew her real last name in this city. She had a separate mailbox for all of Mai Taniyama's mail while the one downstairs in the lobby had the name of Mai Matsuzaki as its label. Mai knew that when mail got switched it would be slid under the door, but this had neither a send nor return address on it. Signifying it had been hand delivered.

Mai suppressed a shudder at that realization, someone knew who she really was and where she was living, had been living for the past five years. Chewing her bottom lip Mai decided to grab a butter knife from the drawer of silverware and open it. Contained within were numerous packets and other files, as well as a small envelope with a name other than hers written across it. Mai picked up a piece of paper and read through it carefully. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped in surprise. She fell to her knees, the previously warm cup of tea now lay cold and forgotten on the counter.

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><p>A gaunt and cadaverous looking man watched a wall of monitors while his female companion looked on in disinterest. A knock at the door alerted the two that their presence was being called for. A lackey hesitantly stuck his head through the door and deliberated whether or not to continue going in.<p>

"What is it?" the man asked, his voice sounding cold and, for lack of a better word, completely terrifying. In other words a voice that was used to being obeyed.

"Um I was sent to confirm the package's delivery." The lackey mumbled out.

"Oh very good!" the woman cheered sarcastically, "Now tell us, has the tracker been activated yet?"

"No." the messenger replied fearfully while rapidly shaking his head.

"Well than why are you still here? Go and only return when the tracker has been activated." The man ordered solemnly.

"Y-yes sir." The underling cried while rushing out the door. The man let out a sigh.

"How pitiful." He remarked while his large yet rather narrow eyes scanned the monitors once more.

"You really need to learn how to lighten up." The woman commented as she slid off the desk she had previously been laying on.

"You're the one complicating things on me and yet you expect me to lighten up?" the man mused.

"Hey, the players will meet eventually so I wouldn't stress over it. Besides, when this is all over it won't matter if they'd never met or if they were the best of friends. You know that as well as I do." She pointed out.

"Yes, but you and I both know we're just openly using one another and that once this is through one of us will most assuredly be dead." He countered.

"True, but I always did enjoy a challenge." The woman said with an evil and slightly maniac glint in her eye.

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><p>Almost an hour later; Mai was still in her bathrobe, albeit now she was in her bedroom, still rereading the letter and all its contents. Sure enough, every time she read it the words stayed the same. But what could she do about it? She'd already tried calling the private numbers that her "parents" had and on both accounts all she got was dead air. Impossible seeing as they were the only three that knew those numbers and Takigawa always made sure they were never disconnected. Chewing her bottom lip was the only way that Mai could think at the moment. Yet as she looked at the letter one more time, she crashed forward onto her bed, tears flowing rapidly though she knew they were useless at a time like this.<p>

Standing quickly, Mai threw open the door to her closet and pulled out a sapphire blue tank top and a pair of black jeans. Then she threw on a pair of white ankle socks before pulling on her black high-tops. Not exactly as fashionable as she would have liked, but today practicality took precedence over style and Mai knew that she didn't have time to waste. She then pulled out a black messenger bag and grabbed her laptop off its charger and tossed it in along with a mini hairbrush she kept in case of an emergency. Mai looked at the bag she was currently stuffing things into, not as fashionable as her Gucci handbag, but it was durable enough not to rip when it was tossed around. She pulled the specific sheet she needed from the envelope before shoving it in the bag. And she then pulled a pair of thick-rimmed, black plastic glasses out and placed them on her face. Mai had perfect vision, but the lenses were plastic as well and helped shape the image she'd created upon coming to America in order to deceive any Taniyama electronics fanatics out there.

Mai debated on whether or not to leave a note for Yasu, but decided against it since knowing him, he'd get involved and that's the last thing Mai wanted. Deciding she'd stalled enough Mai grabbed a black denim jacket off the nail anger on the back of her door and headed out.

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><p>"Kazuya, do you think you could help me move this box of books someone donated to the children?"<p>

No response came. The young man tried again, "Kazuya?" still no answer, "Kazuya!" by this point he was practically screaming in the other man's ear.

"What is it?" Kazuya asked calmly though on the inside he'd snapped in irritation.

"I asked if you could help me move this box of books someone donated to the children." A young blonde man with an Austrailian accent replied.

"Alright then John." Kazuya said as he lifted up the other end of a rather large box that when filled with so many books was difficult to carry alone.

"So what's on your mind?" John asked when they set the box down in the makeshift library the church's orphanage had. "You seemed like you were a million miles away just then. Is everything alright?"

Kazuya internally hesitated, "It's nothing." He answered.

John smiled sadly, "You miss him, don't you Kazuya." John said.

"I suppose so." Kazuya answered vaguely.

By this point the two men had made their way back to the front walkway of the church. At the gates Kazuya saw a young girl; at least she looked that way from the way she was peering in through the bars of the gates. Now this church was still in the city but in a quiet part of it that no one really came by. That's why she stood out to him. She was lean, and her eyes bore into him and John intently, he was surprised to see that even from far away he could see the warm cinnamon colored eyes.

"_Someone finally catches your eye?"_ a voice in his head asked cockily.

"_Shut up Gene."_ Kazuya growled back mentally, _"She just looks lost. That's all."_

"_Right…"_ the voice said before disappearing

"Like what you see?" another cocky voice asked. This one belonged to Hinata Hiyasaka; a man who often volunteered at John's parish. Kazuya never could tell if Hinata annoyed him or if he just flat out hated the man. Kazuya decided just for the moment, he hated Hinata with enough of a reason to wish for his untimely demise.

"She just looks lost." Kazuya replied coolly.

"Maybe we should offer some assistance?" John asked.

"Oh definitely." Hinata said with that tone that indicated he'd offer more than just directions.

But before any of them got the chance to move, the girl surprised them by coming through the gates with a somewhat scared, yet still determined look on her face. They noticed her eyes flickered over the grounds before settling on the three men standing by the church entrance. The hand she held on her black messenger bag tightened as she strode towards them.

"I'll take care of this one" Hinata said with a wink. He sauntered over to the girl intent on grabbing her for his own.

Kazuya sighed, "Why on earth do you let him near the kids?" he asked.

John shrugged, "He needed work and you know father Tojo; he likes to see the best in everyone."

The two resumed watching Hinata try and flirt with the girl. at first she just brushed him off; but when he kept bugging her she calmly took him by the arm and flipped him over her shoulder. She then whispered something in his ear before making her way to the other two men.

"Um excuse me," she asked, "I'd like to say sorry about that, I don't particularly like people who just can't take a hint." She let out a small laugh.

Kazuya found himself liking the bubbly laugh that trickled out of the girl's mouth, like it mattered since he was never going to see her again.

"No, that's quite alright." John replied, "I agree, Hinata does really need to learn the right way to treat a young lady like you. His manners aren't exactly," he paused, "the best."

The girl let out a chuckle in response that was just as, if not more, cute as her laugh. "I think that's putting it lightly." She replied. "But back to why I'm here," she paused as if trying to figure out how to word what she was going to say. "I was told I could find a Kazuya Shibuya here."

Her eyes flickered back and forth between the two men, but Kazuya noticed her gaze stayed locked on him more than John even though she didn't know who was who. Kazuya couldn't tell if that was because she thought he was attractive –a fact which he was already well aware of- or if she had this gut feeling he was who she was looking for.

"That would be me." Kazuya replied after a brief moment of silence. He crossed his arms in a businesslike manner and noticed her eyes held some sort of relief in them.

"Um is there any way that I could talk to you," she paused once more, "Privately?" she asked as she looked over at John.

"Do you think you could introduce yourself first?" Kazuya asked. He then saw her make a face equivalent to smacking oneself in the forehead; apparently she was doing it for forgetting something as simple as introducing herself.

"Uh right." She said with a sheepish smile as she put one of her hands behind her head. She then stuck out the other one. "Mai Matsuzaki." She said with a smile.

"Kazuya Shibuya." He replied emotionlessly. Mai found it a bit odd but she wasn't one to talk with the way her day had started out.

"Now, back to that private place to talk." She said getting back to the point.

"May I ask why you wish to speak with me?" he asked.

"You may, but I will not answer until we are alone." She insisted.

"Well, you could always use the sacristy." John offered, "There's no mass currently so I doubt Father Tojo would mind." Kazuya nodded and then looked to Mai. She nodded and he led her there.

Once inside the room Mai used the table that was there and started to pull out a packet of papers. Kazuya looked on with slight interest, though she was interesting enough. For now at least.

"Shut the door please." She ordered, Kazuya almost fought her; but then decided revealing his identity in a fit of arrogance wouldn't exactly help him get over things any quicker; it would just make matters worse, so he shut the door without a word.

Mai was now looking at something she'd pulled out. He noticed that Mai seemed a bit uneasy with whatever it was she held because she was biting down on her lower lip almost hard enough to draw blood. Her eyes seemed worried about what she was looking at.

"Ms. Matsuzaki?" he questioned cautiously, though he'd never had a girlfriend before past work experiences taught him that women were very unpredictable creatures. One wrong move and your life was pretty much over, metaphorically speaking though he did have a few crazy stalkers that had needed to be jailed for attempts on his life.

Mai turned her head at that, "Ms.?" She questioned, "I'm only twenty one, and besides if this goes the way I think it will you're better off just calling me Mai."

That lifted a warning bell in his head, "Are you implying something I should be cautious about?" he asked.

Mai looked at him for a moment, then she snorted, "Sorry" she said placing a hand on his shoulder, "I don't know how good looking you think you are but I'm not interested no matter how you think otherwise."

"I'm surprised," Kazuya commented, "most women are on their knees begging for me by now."

Mai scoffed again, "Well that must be a big inflation to your already overly-large ego Mr. Shibuya."

"Not as much as you think it would be Mai. Now what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" he inquired.

"I'm not really sure," she admitted, "but I don't want to chance anything by not coming to you."

"Meaning what exactly?" he asked apprehensively.

Mai bit her bottom lip; she knew she was going to sound crazy because she hardly believed herself. But no matter what he said, she was going to take this on, though it would be nice to have some company to reassure her.

"Mai?" he asked breaking her out of her reverie.

"Oh, right. Well this morning I got a, for lack of a better word, letter when I was taking a shower. So I would put it between 7:30 and 7:45 this morning." Mai started. Kazuya had to banish the sudden shower image his mind conjured up.

'_Where did that come from?'_ he asked himself. Then he heard the snicker. _"Gene, stop it right now."_ He mentally ordered.

"_Whatever you say Noll."_ The voice replied in a singsong tone. Kazuya went back to paying attention to Mai.

"When I came out, it was sitting by my door. And in it was, well, everything."

"Everything?" Kazuya asked.

"Rules and stipulations, instructions and guidelines, and the threat." Mai clarified feeling happy that this was the man she was instructed to find. She hadn't figured it'd been the idiot she'd had to teach a lesson to but she was worried it'd been the priest. She didn't want anyone involved with the divine to be at risk and that's exactly what this was, one giant risk.

"For what exactly?" Kazuya asked. "Why are you of all people being threatened?"

"Inside was a letter threatening people close to me so I guess it's a threat for me. But, they asked me to get you involved, though I have no idea why. I'm not exactly one to just give my trust away so I have no idea how I can trust you. However given the circumstances I have no choice but to trust you."

"Okay," Kazuya said calmly, "what exactly are we dealing with here?"

"I'm not sure but they have my family and according to this, they have your cousin." Mai looked away, she didn't want to see the look on his face when he laughed at her and brushed the whole thing off.

Kazuya on the other hand, was shocked for once in his life. This girl, was she lying to him? He doubted it, and not just because he was trained to tell when people were lying. This girl was an open book. He knew the type, emotions always on display for all to see. But better to be safe than sorry.

"Sounds like some kind of sick joke to me." Kazuya said detachedly.

"Look you can choose whether or not to believe me if you want to. I honestly don't know who's behind this or why they're asking me to get you involved with this. Decline this if you want I really don't care. I've done my job by delivering the news. If you want to check you can. That's the only reason I know this is real."

"How?" he asked, okay this was just a little too much for him at the moment.

"I called both my parents on their private numbers, I got dead air. They never ever disconnect those phones so I know they've been kidnapped." She looked at him for a moment before something dawned on her.

"Oh wait," she said as she rummaged around in her bag for a minute. She pulled out a slightly smaller envelope. "They told me to give this to you, said it would clear any doubts a naturally skeptic man such as yourself might have." She handed the envelope to him.

Kazuya took it without much hesitation. He weighed the envelope in his hand; something else besides a letter was in there. Wasting no time he ripped it open and out fell a silver heart shaped hair barrette, the same one from a set of them he'd given his little cousin Kasai on her most recent birthday. Kazuya looked at for all of a full minute.

Mai peeked over his shoulder, "What is it?" she asked.

He spun around and tightly gripped her arm, "How did you know?" he asked icily.

"Know what?" Mai asked as she struggled against his grip, "I don't know anything about you. I swear on my father's grave."

Out of confusion and curiosity, Kazuya let her go. "I thought you said your parents had been kidnapped." He stated.

"They are." Mai replied rubbing her sore arm.

"Then why did you swear on your father's grave?" he asked.

Mai's mouth formed an 'o' in realization. "My birth father's grave I meant. When I was four years old there was an... accident. So I was adopted, the people who raised me became my parents. They're the ones who were kidnapped." She admitted.

Kazuya was interested in what happened, but from the way she talked about it he decided it would be best to save that conversation for another day. His attention returned to the barrette he held in his palm. Pulling out his cell phone he called and started speaking very rapidly in a language Mai recognized as Chinese.

Feeling a little hot in the room because of all the tension Mai slipped out of her jacket and thought about what to say next. She didn't notice Kazuya's gaze returning to her until after she turned around.

"Well, it looks like you're right. They can't find her anywhere." Kazuya explained, his voice sending shivers down Mai's spine.

"I'm very sorry." Mai said sincerely, "But as I've said before you can choose not to get involved with this game these people have set up. You could even go to the police if you want. I'm not allowed to because if I do, both my parents and I will be terminated effective immediately." She looked down at the floor.

"Look, I don't know if this is real or just a case of bad coincidences. I want to believe it's that, but I can't. I understand completely if you don't want anything to do with this. I don't even know why all this is happening, but I do know one thing. I lost my parents once; I don't intend to let it happen again."

Kazuya looked at her for a minute as she stared at the floor; he noted the blush rising on her cheeks as she had realized the look over he was giving to the freshly exposed parts of her upper torso. He ruffled her hair and when she looked up in question he said,

"You idiot. Like you could do this on your own."

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><p>so tell me what you think and pm me if you want to know who the author is, i actually plan on finishing this story and i'll update my other ghost hunt story soon i promise<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

sorry for the lateness ^/^ school stuff ya know.

Disclaimer: i. own. absolutely. nothing.

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><p>'<em>What on earth have I gotten myself into?'<em> Kazuya thought as he quickly and briskly walked the streets of Manhattan. Mai was following closely behind him, on a few occasions she had been walking too slowly for his tastes and he'd had to grab her hand and drag her along. He tried to ignore the sparks he felt from the contact. _'There must be a lot of static in the air today.'_ He thought absently.

"_Yeah, __**that's**__ what it is."_ Gene mumbled sarcastically.

"_Stow it Gene."_ Kazuya ordered. When the other voice in his head remained silent, Kazuya returned to his thoughts. Here he was trusting an odd girl with not just his own life but the life of his only living relative besides his parents. Humorously enough, Mai was thinking the exact same thing.

'_What in the world am I doing?'_ she asked herself as they sped along. She was following a mysterious looking man back to god knows where he could lead her. All she knew about this man was his name and the fact that he had a little cousin that had been kidnapped by the same people who kidnapped her parents. _'Let's see, I'm following a man I barely know back to his apartment. Isn't this the first thing that's covered in those classes about how to avoid ending up in an alleyway?'_ Mai kept thinking that for a minute before she amended herself. It wasn't his apartment they were going back to; it was the apartment of his friend John who he was staying with. But since he never stopped to look at street signs of traffic lights, Mai had to wonder if he wasn't a New Yorker.

As they kept walking Mai had to wonder why the people behind this had gotten Kazuya involved, Mai's adoptive family as well as herself had power worldwide. But Kazuya Shibuya? She'd never heard of him before. So what could he have done? Never mind, Mai thought they already had far too many questions that needed to be answered for her to be wondering about something like that.

Mai watched Kazuya as he dragged her through the crowds and tried for the umpteenth time not to blush in embarrassment. Despite what she said before, Mai really did think Kazuya was an attractive man. However, he probably knew that so Mai refused to acknowledge it. But the fact that a very attractive man was holding her hand. In a way it was almost like they were a couple, at least in the eyes of the women who sent glares Mai's way as they walked towards the apartment complex. But who wouldn't be attracted to a man like Kazuya Shibuya?

Compared to Mai he was at least a head taller, with dark hair messed up in a way that only made him more appealing. He had shoulders slightly more slender than most males, but they were still broader than Mai's. He had pale skin that almost resembled a doll's complexion, with striking sapphires for eyes. When she'd arrived at the church he was only wearing a long-sleeved black turtle-neck, even still she could see how nicely it hugged his figure. And now since he was wearing an open black over coat to match with the rest of his black ensemble, it gave him an aura of mystery, that bad boy appeal that no girl can resist. Still with it opened like that you could see that though he wasn't trying to show off, he wasn't saying he wasn't fit. Mai was so absorbed in scrutinizing his appearance that she didn't notice him stop suddenly and she almost slammed into him.

"Why'd you stop?" she asked as she backed up about two feet for good measure.

"We're here." Was all he said as he ushered her forward into the building.

"Impressive." Was all Mai could say as she looked around the cozy, yet marble floored lobby.

"I'll have to tell John you think so." Kazuya replied as she followed him into the elevator.

However nice the lobby was, the apartment in comparison looked as though it was uninhabited.

"John spends a lot of his time at his parish." Kazuya explained as he guided her to the couch, "So much that he sometimes spends the nights with the orphans that live there. Not that I mind, I actually prefer the solitude. Stay right here, I need to get a few things from my room."

When he was sure she'd stay put he went to his room. There he pulled out a bag and looked over the contents carefully. Glancing between them, Kazuya deliberated and the merits of cleaning versus the merits of reloading before taking out a small pistol as well as two of his five throwing knives. He wondered if he should give his bottle of mace to Mai, before wondering whether or not she even knew how to use it or whether whatever they were going up against needed precaution.

Kazuya went to the threshold of the living room. There he saw Mai looking over the letter she'd gotten earlier in the morning with a melancholy expression on her face. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"_What's this Oliver? Could it be? You have feelings? Incredible!"_ Gene exclaimed.

"_Shut it Gene. Her only family was kidnapped. Now is not the time to be evaluating whether or not I'm a human."_ Kazuya scolded.

"Naru? Is something wrong?" Mai's voice broke him out of arguing with Gene.

"Naru?" Kazuya asked.

Mai shrugged, "I figure that you're such a narcissist you need a name befitting one. Hence Naru the narcissist." She explained happily.

"Oh," was his noncommittal response.

"_Hit the nail on the head, didn't she Noll?"_ Gene asked.

Naru chose to ignore the voice in his head and return to more pressing matters. He decided to sit down on the couch and look at the other papers Mai had pulled out.

"So Mai, do you have any way to protect yourself should the need arise?" he asked bluntly.

"No, I don't like to hurt people." She looked at him, "Why? Do I need to have something like that?" she asked.

"I'm not exactly sure, but I think we're better off being safe than sorry." Naru replied.

"Why?" Mai asked.

"We're going up against people who have no problem kidnapping two middle to senior age people as well as a little girl to use as leverage against us. And have no problem threatening their lives as well as our own. What do you think Mai?" Naru said harshly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize…" Mai trailed off, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

Naru sighed, "Mai, I'm not trying to scare you. Believe me if I was, you'd be frozen with terror. You need to be prepared for any and everything." He assured her. She smiled sadly.

"It's funny; I don't think I've ever even heard of things like this. But you," she turned to face him, "you seem like you know a lot. What exactly do you do for a living?"

Naru dry swallowed, "Let's just say I've had past experience with law enforcement." He said vaguely.

Mai raised a thin brow at him, "Past experience? Like you worked for them?"

Naru crossed his arms, "I suppose you could say that. Either way I'm making a career shift. But I needed some time to figure out what I wanted to do; hence my being here in New York."

Mai shrugged, "Whatever you say Naru." She pulled a sheet free from the stack, "Alright, here's the first clue."

* * *

><p>Lin sighed, "I've told you a thousand times. Noll is on leave right now, we can't just haul him back because you guys are too lazy to do actual police work." The others in the office just kept complaining. Lin scrunched his brow and sighed again.<p>

"Look, I told you that he's on leave. And even if I wanted to bring him back I couldn't. When Noll wants to be alone he'll completely shut everything down and focus on his solitude. I don't even know where he is." A lie, but it was necessary to get the lazy people in the division to do the work they were paid for.

"If you want to find him, go ask the director because I know absolutely _nothing_ about his whereabouts."

When they were all gone Lin looked at his answering machine and sighed. He'd lied when he said that he didn't know where Noll had gone, but that didn't mean he was lying when he said that he'd shut off everybody. Didn't matter though, as long as Noll stayed with John at the parish he was safe. Then again, Noll always had trouble listening to authority other than his own.

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><p>Mai groaned in frustration and slammed against the back of the couch. "I just don't get this." She complained.<p>

Naru looked at her before shifting his gaze to the paper with the clue written on it. "Let me see the other ones." He said looking over to catch Mai's gaze locked on his profile.

Mai was a little distracted by the seriousness in his deep blue eyes. "Huh? Oh, sure." She replied shaking her head before getting the rest of the stack out of the envelope from her bag. "here." She said handing it to him.

Naru took the papers and looked over them. Mai took the opportunity to slide a little ways down the couch so she wasn't as close to him as she probably should have been to work on the clue. However, something about the way he'd looked in her eyes put Mai outside of her comfort zone. And she wasn't entirely sure it was a bad thing.

"Was this it?" he asked as he looked over everything, it was all Mai had told him about; rules ultimatum, and instructions on where he could be found and how he could be convinced. Nothing at all pointed to who was behind this. Yet still, he looked the contents over and over again for any kind of clue.

"Oh, I suppose it isn't as much to go on as I first thought." Mai said dejectedly.

"Well, I wouldn't say that." Naru replied, "It's just less than I had hoped it would be; that's all."

"Oh."

Naru looked at the girl and shook his head.

"So basically we're going on an all-day scavenger hunt for a person we don't even know." He started.

"Right." Mai followed

"And we need to do this to ensure the safety of your parents, my cousin, and you." He finished.

"Okay." Mai agreed.

"In the meantime, I'd like to figure out who's behind this." Naru said launching into a trail of thought.

"You do what you want with that." Mai said, "Right now the thing that matters most to me is getting my parents back."

Naru felt slight apathy for the girl, true his own family wasn't extensive and that did make his cousin a top priority, but Mai had stated earlier that she'd lost her birth parents when she was little. The people who'd been kidnapped had taken her in and raised her as their own. Naru thought it would tear the poor girl apart to lose her parents twice, so he was resolved not to let it happen. Okay, that was weird, so rather than try to figure out why his feelings were deciding to take control at a time like this, he decided on deciphering the first clue.

"Well if we want to do that we should start on the first clue." He told her drily.

"You can do it; I've never been good at riddles. Even the simplest of them stump me." Mai admitted.

"Then we'll solve it together." Naru insisted, "Though if simple riddles stump you I have to wonder what level your intelligence lies on."

"Hey!" Mai cried in indifference.

Naru ignored her and studied the clue.

_Ready to start our fun little game?_

_Ready to put it all On the Line?_

_On the thirteenth floor_

_That's far from home_

_The first command you'll find_

"What?" Mai blinked, "This makes no sense."

"Take it apart piece by piece." Naru ordered.

"How? We've got nothing to go on here!" Mai lamented.

"Hmm, I don't believe so." Naru mused.

"Oh? Care to let me in on it?" Mai asked sarcastically.

"You said it before, it's a scavenger hunt." Naru said, "But the prizes we seem to be competing for are the lives of our loved ones. Have you heard of such a thing before? Doesn't the setup seem familiar?"

"It might be. To me it sounds like more of an ultimate game." She paused as something dawned on her. Naru was pleased at how fast her mind seemed to be working. "Wait a minute, I have heard of this before." She exclaimed.

"Where?" he asked just to be sure they were on the same page.

"I read a short story once; I think it was called the most dangerous game. Anyways, the main character Rainsford was shipwrecked on a place called Ship Trap Island. It was owned by a man named Zaroff. Anyways, Rainsford had to run because Zaroff…" she trailed off for a moment, "was hunting humans."

Naru blinked, that wasn't really the direction he thought she'd go in but it was very similar to the situation they were in now.

"You have reason to believe we're being hunted?" he asked slowly.

"No reason to believe we're not." Mai countered. "But if we _are_ being hunted, I have to admit I'm a little scared."

Naru studied the first clue again. Something didn't add up.

"I don't think that this is the actual first clue." He said as his eyes scanned it for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Why not?" Mai asked.

"Because I believe we have a certain amount of time to spend on this scavenger hunt, and there's no way to tell when your package was delivered or when you found me. Therefore this has to be a starter clue that leads to the timer. And besides that, the clue said we'll get our first command when we figure out this one." Naru rationalized.

"Oh, I see." Mai said comprehension taking over her features. "So how do we get to the 'start' of the game?" she wondered aloud.

"Hmm, maybe if we had a computer…." Naru mused.

"Okay." Mai said as she pulled out the sleek black laptop from its case. She then took out a tiny card and placed in the SD slot.

"What was that?" Naru asked as Mai started and logged on her computer.

"An air card. Gives me internet access any and everywhere." Mai replied as she Googled an article. "Oh Naru, look at this."

She set the computer on the coffee table in front of the couch and gestured for him to sit closer to her. Naru tried to ignore the mixed scent of earl grey and roses which were coming off her body as he sat down next to her, a little too much inside the personal space bubble.

"Five years ago," Naru looked at Mai, who was reading the article aloud with fevered interest. "Two people were found lying on the sidewalk in Hong Kong. They'd been killed sniper style. Witnesses say that the two had no previous relationship, only that they'd met earlier the same morning and seemed to be on a scavenger hunt," Mai's eyes widened.

"It appears you may be right Mai." Naru said as he read the article for himself.

"You know I believe that may be the first time you've ever admitted that someone other than you was right about something Naru." Mai said with a grin.

Naru brushed it off, "Let's get back to the clue." He said irritably.

"Very well, but we still need to figure out what it means." Mai said.

"Look carefully at the lines, there might be something easily missed." Naru encouraged.

"Wait, the second line sticks out. On and line are capitalized, but they're not names and they're not at the beginning of the lines." Mai pointed out.

"Very clever." Naru remarked.

"I was a student editor in college. You get good at seeing things like that quickly." She replied.

"You're still a college student?" Naru asked.

"First year grad." Mai shrugged, "Why?"

"No reason." Naru commented. "It almost seems as though they're purposely drawing attention to those two words."

"Right." Mai agreed. "Like the word in between doesn't even matter. Wait." She studied the line for a moment. "Those words combined make the word online. What we're looking for is on the internet."

"What are you doing?" Naru asked as she started typing furiously.

"Going to the thirteenth floor. It only makes sense since the way on and line were capitalized and the fact that there are never any thirteenth floors in buildings." Mai answered.

Unfortunately, the page didn't load. Mai put her arms in the "thinker" position and stared at the screen.

"What are we missing?" she mused.

"Well let's take a look at the rest of the clue and see if we can figure it out." Naru said.

"Far from home…" Mai repeated.

"Home. Where are you from?" Naru asked as he looked at her.

"I'm originally from Tokyo, but I moved here about five years ago for school. What about you?" Mai asked.

"Pretty much the same. Though I was raised in England, I moved to New York when I was around fifteen. But I moved to D.C for work." Naru replied.

"Wait; let's stick with an internet theme. So…" Mai opened a new browser. "Maybe home is homepage."

Naru looked at the NYU homepage. "Hmm, we're looking for a site that's far from your homepage and has to do with the thirteenth floor. I wonder…" he trailed off.

"What?" Mai asked.

"Let me see it for a minute." Naru said in reply. Mai slid the computer to him. Naru quickly typed in an address and hit enter. Mai gasped and Naru held his breath at the site before them.

* * *

><p>"What is it now?" the icy voice asked in annoyance.<p>

"The tracker has activated." The winded grunt reported.

"Good." Was all he said in reply? The lackey took it as a sign to leave.

"What took them so long?" the woman complained as she sat up and stretched.

"You wanted him involved in this game; you have no right to complain now." The voice lectured.

The woman shrugged, "True, but you can't deny that this isn't fun Urado." She giggled evily.

"It might be, but if any harm comes to the young Taniyama then my part in this whole plot is worthless." Urado growled. "If you and your personal agenda comes before the vengeance we both crave Ubusuna."

Ubusuna pouted, "You really think this is about my personal vengeance? Please, you'd want Dr. Davis dead too if you'd gone through what I did. Oliver Davis humiliated me beyond comprehension. So I want to see him writhe. I wanna see him wriggle like a worm on a hook." She hissed out.

"And this game is the perfect way I know I know." Urado brushed her off.

"Yes. I get to toy with him physically, mentally, emotionally, and psychically. Besides, Mai will be delivered straight to you and you can deal with her then." Ubusuna leered.

"You try my patience sometimes." Urado said drily.

"And yet you lecture me for making this personal." Ubusuna chided.

"You mix pleasure with business. I on the other hand, do not." Urado replied.

"It's not my fault you don't trust me." Ubusuna protested.

"True, but I only keep things that are of importance to my own survival from you. No more, no less."

* * *

><p>"It's a clock." Mai observed looking at the screen. "We have a clock? Why?"<p>

"It's the timer for the game." Naru said as she looked at the address he'd typed. It was Chinese rather than American proving Naru's hunch that whoever had done this to Mai knew where she was from.

"Wait, we only have one day to do this?" she asked slightly afraid.

"I'm afraid so, starting the minute we found the page." He looked at the screen pensively, "But where to go from here…"

"I can't do this." Mai said almost immediately.

Naru looked at her, "Why not?" he asked.

"I just can't okay." She snapped. "I'm just a stubbornly stupid, weak, good for nothing coward!" she cried as she drew her knees into her chest and crouched into a ball on the couch.

Naru sighed, "Mai listen to me. You may be a lot of things; stubborn, yes, weak, maybe, stupid, highly possible but I can disregard that for right now." He was stopped by an angry yet teary eyed glare from the human hedgehog. "But you should never believe that you are useless or cowardly. In fact you exude the most confidence I've ever seen a woman have."

"How so?" she asked.

"You came to find me, flipped a stranger that tried to flirt with you, and you managed to talk to me without melting or shivering in fear. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the easiest to approach, but you did it without so much as batting an eye. Mai, facing this head on like you're trying to do takes confidence most people ever dream of having. I truly believe you can do this." Naru explained.

She still didn't look completely settled. So Naru, thinking he would regret it later, offered her something he rarely gives; a true and sincere smile. She just stared at him as he smiled at her and patted her head before rising from his position on the balls of his feet and having his features revert back to normal. Mai stared into space blankly for a few minutes.

"Mai?" Naru questioned. Mai shook her head and blinked.

"I'm okay." She assured him. "So we need to find the first command. I'm thinking there's a link on the site."

"Where?" Naru asked because the screen looked completely blank save for the clock that took up most of the site's space.

"You have to search carefully because they're hidden sometimes." Mai told him as she swept the mouse over the screen in neat lines.

When the mouse turned into a pointer Mai eagerly clicked the button.

_Congrats you finally reached the start_

_Now here is where we begin the fun part_

_To save your loved ones_

_You have to search_

_Through a lot of history and dirt_

_Find the treasure_

_Buried there_

_Then a new window_

_Shall appear_

Mai wrinkled her nose, "Jeez, whoever came up with these creepy rhymes needs some serious counseling."

"Agreed." Naru said, "Now, shut down the computer."

"Why?" Mai asked.

"So asks the girl who figured out we have a hunter on our tails." Naru retorted as he walked towards the kitchen.

"Oh right." Mai said with a blush, "But what are you looking for?"

"Water and snacks." Naru explained as he wrapped the bottles in plastic to keep them from leaking, "We might not always have time to stop and eat."

"Alright." Mai nodded in approval, "Just let me write everything down in case the battery dies."

Naru simply grunted in agreement and put the papers he'd gathered back in the envelope. What caught his eye was Mai's name printed across the front, but the last name clearly wasn't Matsuzaki, not even close.

"Ready?" Mai asked as she plucked the envelope from his hands and put it in the bag.

"More than ready." Naru replied as he deposited the wrapped bottles in the bag.

"Very good." She said as she eyed him. _'A little too good. Just who is this guy?'_

"So do you have any idea on where we should go first?" Mai asked as he led her out of the building and onto the crowded streets.

"Nothing presently comes to mind." Naru said indifferently.

"You can be so aggravating sometimes. And I've only known you for less than an hour." Mai complained as she tried to contain the rage building up inside her.

Naru watched her trying to keep her temper in check and found it extremely amusing, not that he'd ever admit it.

"Well, have you eaten yet?" he asked. A loud groan from her stomach was his answer. "I'll take that as a no. We should have something big to eat before doing anything else." He wasn't expecting her to bop him over the head, an incredible feat in itself because he was taller than she. "What on earth was that for?" he complained.

"Now that I think I think about it, breakfast does sound like a good idea." She said as she helped him up. "And I know the perfect place to go." Mai spun on her heel and weaved through the crowds, leaving Naru to follow after her.

"And _I'm_ the aggravating one? Hardly." Naru retorted after catching up to her.

"Please, I've been called way worse than aggravating." Mai brushed off the insult.

Naru couldn't help the mixed sting of anger and something else when he heard that.

"_Oooh, looks like someone's jealous."_ Gene sang in Naru's head.

"_Shut up Gene."_ Naru ordered. He was snapped out of his internal argument when Mai poked him.

"what?" he asked.

"I asked you what you thought of the next clue." Mai told him as they moved along.

It was only then Naru noticed that she'd grabbed his hand and was now leading him through the crowds much as he had done to her earlier. This knowledge caused him to notice the faint blush on her cheeks.

"I think it is something we'll be able to figure out more concisely after we've eaten." Naru replied.

Mai rolled her eyes, "Typical male," she said, "only thing you care about is food."

"Well you should know that you are far from a typical female. At least compared with every other girl I've met." He informed her and was secretly delighted when the blush on her cheeks darkened considerably.

"I don't know whether I should be flattered or insulted, possibly both." She mused back at him.

"If I were you I'd take it as a compliment." He told her.

"I'd believe it more profusely if you were a friend of mine." Mai told him. "Since we're not I'm inclined to take it either way."

"Still you should." Naru tried again, "Besides, I think I know enough about you for us to be acquaintances, pretty much friends." He replied.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yes. Your name is Mai Matsuzaki, you come from Tokyo, and you're a first year grad student at NYU." He explained.

"Well aren't you just a regular Sherlock Holmes." She retorted sarcastically. "Oh, we're here." She said before dragging him into some no-name restaurant.

He escorted her to the back of the eatery and slid into the other side of the booth. She looked at the menu tentatively before her stomach mewled in protest.

"What's wrong?" Naru asked disinterestedly as he studied his own menu.

"I just feel guilty for even thinking of food when our loved ones are who knows where in who knows what condition." Mai said with her head aimed down towards the table.

"We'll get through this." Naru assured her flatly, "I for one intend to have a working breakfast."

"You know I'd feel more comfortable with that statement if you actually spoke with emotion like most normal people do." Mai groused.

"Whatever gave you the idea that I'm normal?" he asked in response, pleased once more when Mai tried to stifle a giggle.

"What can I get for you two?" the waitress asked with her eyes more focused on Naru than on the pad she was writing on.

"Two orders of Bonnie's short stacks." Mai said quickly, "With the original syrup, and I'll have some green tea and a water. Coffee alright with you Naru? "

Naru wordlessly nodded. The waitress jotted everything down and scurried off to the kitchen.

"You like tea?" he asked.

"Yeah, being from Japan and all, I got used to having tea like my three square meals a day. Did you want some instead of coffee?" she asked.

"Coffee will do for the time being." Naru answered.

Mai thought in silence for a few minutes while Naru watched her out the corner of his eye.

"Hey Naru," she began, "what's her name?"

"Who's name?" Naru asked.

"Your cousin's. I saw the barrette from the envelope."

"Oh, her name is Kasai." He replied dully.

"Really? And how old is she?" Mai prodded.

"she just turned eight a few weeks ago." Naru answered.

Mai let out a whoosh of air, "Wow, impressive age gap."

"Just how old do you think I am?" he asked her with an eyebrow raised quizzically.

"Hmm," Mai mused, "you couldn't be much older than me. I'd say twenty-four, twenty-five maybe."

"Try twenty-two." Naru replied.

"Really? You're pretty young; I didn't think any guy could be so mature at such a young age." Mai said in awe.

"As I said before, what on earth makes you think I'm in the same class as all those normal men?" Naru asked.

Mai didn't have time to answer as their food was placed in front of them and she began to eat savagely.

"You should slow down unless you want to get sick." Naru told her as he picked up his fork and knife and began to eat the stack of fluffy pancakes set before him.

"Don't mock me." Mai said with the syrup from her meal plastered to the sides of her face. Naru thought it was kind of cute.

The waitress came back with the bill moments later. Naru picked it up and looked at it.

"Hmm, seems it's two for the price of one day." He mused.

Mai plucked the bill from him and looked at it. Sure enough, they only had to pay for one of the meals.

Mai rolled her eyes and took another bite of her stack, "Nice to know you're actually useful for something." She replied less than enthusiastically.

"Well, you _are_ the only girl that's been able to stay in my company for more than a few minutes without melting into a puddle." Naru reminded her.

"Focus." Mai was trying to resist the urge to smack him upside the head, which was getting harder and harder to do with every word that left his mouth.

"Very well." Naru conceded.

"Hmm, it talks about finding a treasure and a new window will appear. So maybe we're looking for a key?" Mai started looking at the page she'd written the clue on.

"True, however I believe this key will be found in the real world rather than the digital one." Naru shot back.

"What makes you say that?" Mai asked.

"Why go to all the trouble of setting up this game of torment if we're not tortured in all aspects?" Naru asked her.

"You seem to be able to think like a madman with ease." Mai commented, "Are you sure your mental health is something I don't need to be worried about?"

"I am in my right mind." Naru answered quickly, "Though I'm not sure if the same can be said for you."

"Maybe the key is hidden in actual dirt. Like an archeological dig." Mai said as she pulled out her laptop.

"Possibly." Naru agreed before seeing that after tose first few savage bites, her plate was virtually untouched. "However, if you want to solve this you need to eat." He said as he took the computer from her hands.

"Naru!" Mai pouted.

"No buts Mai. Now eat." He ordered. Mai reluctantly did as she was told.

Just how many things could this girl do to make Naru feel things he'd never felt before. Said man wondered at that for all of a full minute before the name printed on the hidden side of the envelope flashed the warning bells in his mind. Cute or not, Naru wasn't completely sure he could trust this woman. Not yet at least.

"Anything yet Naru?" Mai asked with a muffled voice due to the food in her mouth.

"No, but I believe we haven't narrowed the search enough yet." Was Naru's answer.

He retyped the search adding in the word 'fun'. His eyes widened ever so slightly at the first result that came up.

"We have a winner."

* * *

><p>hopefully things will start to make sense and i'll be able to update faster. anyways, reveiw!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

gomen gomen gomen! i'm sorry this took so long!

on another note, one of my reviewers asked me why Gene's so calm about the whole thing. well, considering he's dead, he can't do anything for Kasai. so he's just going to enjoy teasing his baby brother.

* * *

><p>"Wait, he's gone?" Lin said into the phone.<p>

"Yes. I'm sorry Lin." John apologized. "Kazuya wouldn't tell me anything, just left with that woman on his arm and more of a scowl on his face than usual. Name didn't ring a bell."

"No, but call me immediately if you see him. This little trip is to help him relax and get some of the pent up energy in his body out _without_ nearly killing him. I need to talk to him."

"Will do Lin." John replied before biding goodbye and hanging up.

"Oliver Davis when I get my hands on you I'm gonna…" as Lin muttered profanities under his breath his thoughts turned towards the woman John said he'd left with. Mai Matsuzaki, not only was Oliver going with her but she had seeked him out. He never got involved with women because they all turned out the same. Psycho stalkers with only one thing in mind. Lin shuddered at the mere wondering of what that woman wanted from Oliver.

"Maybe I should do a background check on her." Lin mused. He did just that, but cancelled it at the last minute.

"My hands are tied," Lin groaned, "If she isn't a threat, then why is she seeking him out? He is under his birth name alias. But if she is I can't help. I've got no idea where they'd go."

"What's the matter Lin?" Madoka asked as she walked in the room.

"Oliver." Lin replied. "Need I say more?"

Madoka shook her head, "I can only guess, but as long as he only fight when threatened and doesn't lose control of his temper he'll be fine. Besides, he'd always carry some kind of protection on him. Past experience has taught him not to go anywhere without." The pink haired woman assured him.

"I suppose you're right." Lin agreed. "But here, you work in missing persons. What on earth are you doing here?" he asked her.

Madoka shook her head sadly, "got a global amber alert from China." She replied grimly.

Lin looked up from his desk, "don't tell me…" he trailed off.

Madoka nodded, "fraid so." She replied once more as she handed the sheet to him.

"Kasai." Lin mumbled looking at the sheet. "His only living relative."

"Yep." Madoka agreed. "I checked and double checked. Your relatives put her to bed and she was taken sometime during the night. We're considering the fact that she's related to him to be a factor in her disappearance."

"Well, definitely keep me updated on this." Lin said wondering if that was why Oliver went running off this morning, but that wouldn't explain Mai.

"Will do." Madoka replied, "Has Oliver been doing, okay lately?"

"I'm not sure." Lin answered truthfully, "He's always been very bad at showing his feelings, but after the incident he's been acting more reserved than usual." He paused, "I think he feels guilty."

"He shouldn't though," Madoka pointed out, "it was a coincidence, a very sad coincidence, but a coincidence nonetheless. "She walked back over to Lin. "cheer up." She said cupping one side of Lin's face in her hand. "Oliver's a capable man. Don't worry so much." She flashed a smile before scampering out the door.

Lin picked up his desk phone and dialed the cell number. "Kazuya Shibuya enough of this. Call me as soon as you get this message." He growled before slamming the phone down on the receiver.

Naru ignored the vibrating of the cell phone in his coat pocket and looked at the advertisement he'd found on the web.

"That's really really creepy." Mai said as her eyes scanned the page.

"Why do you think so?" Naru asked.

"This event has only been going on for a little over a month and yet they knew about it."

"Probably because they made a donation to have it going on while we're on the run playing this useless little game of theirs." Naru responded emotionlessly.

Mai shuddered, "Why put us through all this if it could simply be a grudge held against our families?" she asked.

"An interesting thing to pursue, but we should save it for later." Naru told her, "right now we need to focus our attention on this."

"Alright. But I think it's really sick to abuse something intended for kids for this kind of a purpose." Mai said.

"Agreed." Naru replied looking at the 'mock dig' set up by the museum of natural history ad.

"We should get going, it opens at nine." He said, "We can get a cab to take us there when it opens and it won't be too crowded unlike if we wait." He pulled out his wallet and paid for Mai's meal.

"Naru! You should have let me pay for that. After all we were only charged for my meal." Mai protested.

"Yes, and since I was given a gift in hopes that I would pay more attention to the waitress than you I insist that I pay for the meal." Naru replied in response before taking Mai by the wrist, dragging her out the door, and hailing a cab to take them to Central Park.

Unfortunately, the park was crowded, but not as crowded as it would have been if they had waited any longer. The reason for the crowds being that the exhibit was ending this weekend.

"_Dammit_." Naru hissed. He let out another one after he was elbowed in the gut by Mai.

"What was that for?" he asked as he rubbed his stomach.

"You don't say words like that in front of little kids Naru." Mai scolded.

"Why not?" Naru asked.

"_What? Too smart not to see an answer as simple as that?"_ Gene taunted.

"_Not now."_ Naru replied.

"Because they repeat it and get in trouble." Mai lectured.

"_Ha."_ Gene laughed.

"_You are really starting to get on my nerves Gene."_ Naru all but growled. He was taken out of arguing with Gene when he realized that Mai was asking him something.

"Any ideas on where are we supposed to look?" she asked turning to look at him.

"None presently." Naru replied, "But maybe we'll be able think more clearly if we survey the layout of this." He ushered the both of them forward.

At the entrance table sat a woman who held more of the air of a watchful vulture than a volunteer.

"Excuse me," Mai said as they approached her, "how much is it to get in?"

The lady eyed them for a second, "We ask for a five dollar donation." Before Naru could even move Mai had a ten dollar bill out and on the table.

The lady eyed the bill suspiciously, "where are your kids?" she asked.

Mai blinked; did she really look old enough to have kids?

"Um…" Mai began.

"My girlfriend and I are meeting her sister and her kids inside. Isn't that right Mai?" Naru asked her as he put an arm around her waist.

Mai was too busy trying to fight the blush that threatened to leak out to answer verbally. She simply nodded in response.

The lady eyed them once more before taking the money and stamping their hands. The walked inside with the lady watching them the entire time.

"Girlfriend?" Mai asked with a smirk on her face.

"Well every now and then it doesn't hurt to tell a little white lie now does it?" Naru asked in response.

"Smooth." Was all Mai said in reply.

"I believe it'd be best if we quickly found what we were looking for and left." Naru said as he eyed the people around him. No one seemed familiar, at least for the moment. But still those unfamiliar people were giving him and Mai strange looks because they didn't have children with them.

"Okay, have any ideas on where to start?" Mai asked looking around the piles of dirt.

"Hmm…." Naru scanned the surroundings, there didn't seem much logic in placing something where it could easily be dug up by someone it wasn't intended for. But what caught his eye was a completely abandoned plot of the dig.

"Naru, I'm stumped. All that seems to be here are fossils." Mai told him as she examined a brochure from the information table.

"True." Naru agreed.

"And what if what we _are_ looking for has already been found?" Mai asked.

"I highly doubt it Mai." Naru replied, "All these fossils were planted her by museum staff, surely they'd know if something unintended was added to the mix." He caught the eyes of the old crone at the entrance and decided to usher Mai over to a bench.

Mai, who was busy looking over the clues she'd written down in her notebook, was surprised that he was actually moving her. From what she'd seen Naru didn't like any physical contact. In fact, he'd stay away from it as much as possible. The only reasons they'd touched before was so not as to get lost on the way to anywhere and even then they took each other by the wrist. He didn't say anything about why that was and Mai decided not to question it.

"What's with the arm around the waist?" Mai asked once seated.

"Seems like something a boyfriend would do." Naru replied. "Now give me your phone."

"Why?" Mai asked unwilling to part with the device.

"To avoid suspicion I'm going to call your sister and ask where she is. Why would I have your sister's number on my phone?" Naru asked.

Mai handed over the phone and went back to looking over the clue while Naru pressed a button to light up her screen. She had a missed text and Naru just pulled it up without even bothering to tell her.

"_I think that might be a bad idea Noll."_ Gene warned.

"_Not now Gene."_ Naru growled agitatedly as he looked at the message.

"_Suit yourself. But don't complain to me when she gets you back for not telling her about it."_ Gene replied before vanishing.

Naru returned his attention to the message.

_Yo Mai can't make lunch today, waiting for some books I need to come back. See ya back home for dinner though._

It was from somebody Mai had as Yasu under her contacts, Naru wondered at that for a moment before a sharp flare in his chest came from the idea that Yasu could be a man.

"_Somebody's jealous."_ Gene sang in his head.

"_I'm not jealous Gene."_ Naru answered calmly.

"_Right; and I'm the queen of England. Get real Noll."_ Gene argued.

Naru then chose to ignore Gene for the moment because Mai was saying something and listening to her wasn't nearly as bad as listening to Gene, at least not most of the time.

"I still have no idea where we're supposed to look Naru." Mai groaned.

"I have an idea," Naru replied vaguely. "Earlier I noticed a few areas where no one was around. It's been roped off with rope a different color than the one that's open." Mai followed his gaze and saw what he'd been talking about.

"And you didn't think it would be of any use to us?" Mai asked with annoyance practically oozing out of her voice.

"It didn't seem relevant at that particular moment." Naru admitted, "And besides, if left to me alone I'd probably have everything figured out by now. But since I'm stuck with you I might as well make you do some thinking for yourself. God knows your brain cells need the workout." He concluded.

"Contrary to what you might believe I'm not as stupid as people believe I am." Mai told him.

"Oh, well in that case you'd be as dense as a forest." Naru countered.

"Whatever," Mai grumbled allowing him the small victory, "but how could that area not be important? It's almost a quarter of the dig."

"Well let's see if we can gain access to it and find what we're looking for." Naru said standing up and leading her over to another volunteer.

"Can I help you with anything?" the woman who looked no older than twenty-five asked.

"Yes," Naru answered and pushing Mai in front of him, "you see my name is Kazuya Shibuya and this is my friend Mai." Mai saw the older woman blush at Naru.

"Amelia." She answered with a sweet yet flirtatious smile.

"Well you see, Mai was here with her niece and nephew a few days ago and believes she lost something while playing with the kids."

"Oh dear." Amelia said with a look of genuine concern on her face.

"I was wondering if there was a lost and found around here that she could check." Naru continued.

"Unfortunately, we don't." Amelia replied with a shake of her head, "In the flyer people are advised to come with their belongings safely stowed before going into the dirt." She told them.

"Well that is too bad I suppose." Naru answered, "We were hoping that it would be found quickly since it wasn't a fossil."

"It hasn't happened yet and nearly all the plots are empty now." Amelia told them.

"What do you mean empty?" Mai asked.

"With a certain number of fossils buried in each plot we know when a plot is empty and when it's not."

"Really? How on earth is it done? I mean all this dirt looks the same to me and I haven't even been here for ten minutes." Mai asked.

"There's a system," Amelia explained noting the girl's eager expression, "The areas are roped off with different colors. We only let the public in to certain ones during certain times. At the start of the summer we started up there at the top," she gestured to the plot farthest from them, "and we've been working our way down the line since then."

"Oh, so you started," Mai put a little emphasis on the word started for Naru's sake, "up there at the end of the line?"

"Yes," Amelia nodded, "I wish I could have been more of a help."

"I think you've been a tremendous help Amelia." Naru said with slight emotion to drive his point home. "But do you think you could do one more thing for us?"

The New York and Manhattan areas were always good for everything, well, save for work. But this was only a recent development. Prior to the 9/11 attacks anyone could get away with murder even with substantial evidence that could be called circumstantial and proven given you had a good lawyer. But now, now everyone was far too worried and paranoid for their own good making everything in the raven-haired woman's particular line of work all the more difficult. It certainly didn't help that she was on the top of the most wanted list for more than a handful of countries.

Though it was laughable to even think that just by looking at her, that and the fact that she always made sure to leave circumstantial evidence behind so absolutely no one would have any accurate info on her. That was a badge of honor in her books, a sign that she was the best in the business. She could go to parties with her politically influential family and fraternize with the bigwigs that so desperately wanted to lock her up and have the honor of saying she was caught by _them_. It made her laugh that people could be such idiots; in fact it was the only reason she'd decided to create an alias for her line of work. Not even her parents knew what she did for a job, and as such they provided her with plenty of money. 'Only the best for their little doll' Ha! That was where she got her alias the China Doll Spirit. Not that she needed any of it, but it was always nice to have a safety net for when she wanted out. As it was though she made plenty in her line of work.

But the reason for her being here? Na, she had enough money to support her children should she ever decide to have any and raise them with the finer things in life even if she went through a nasty divorce. This job was purely for fun, purely for the thrill of the hunt one might say. The woman pulled out an IPhone that was an advanced model way ahead of the American apple corp. the GPS showed the tracker going active less than a half hour ago, signaling the start of the game not only for the prey, but the predator as well. Not that they had any idea she was onto them. They were open for the hunt and she had as long as they did to complete her goal. If not, they walked free.

The woman narrowed her eyes and gave a smug smirk at the screen. Like that was going to happen. She followed the tracker and took a left to enter central park. Her black strapped sandals clicked on the pavement that moved beneath her. Normally she'd wear her signature kimono to conceal her weapons but she was in New York, not back home in Japan. Something like that? She'd stick out enough to be ID'd almost instantly. And what fun was that? So instead she'd opted for a kimono style shirt and black pants with Japanese kanji's decorating the left leg.

The woman was growing impatient; she didn't have her targets in sight at all. The tracker was only so accurate anyways, but the woman's principles were to rely almost solely on instinct. What kind of hunter lets technology do the work for them? Especially since said technology was constantly being advanced by one of her targets. She saw a crowd of people and looked them over, pulling up the files that held information and pictures of Mai (Taniyama) Matsuzaki and Kazuya Shibuya (Oliver Davis).

Delicate amethyst eyes scanned the people over until they settled on two individuals on the far side of the park. They eyes darkened slightly and suppressing another smirk, the woman pushed her way through the crowd.

"Impressive sweet-talking." Mai commented as the pair made their way over to the beginning plot. She was referring to the way Naru had gotten Amelia to let them search the first plot for Mai's "missing" item.

"What you call sweet-talking I call instinct." Was Naru's reply. To his delight she let out another one of those irresistible giggles.

"Mhmm." Mai said. "And the reason you got a free breakfast this morning had nothing to do with the way you were looking at the waitress." She teased.

"Why? Were you jealous?" Naru teased back.

"hardly." Mai shot back, "I just wanted you to admit it." By this time the two had reached the plot but the conversation was much more gratifying.

"What I said was neither confirmation nor denial of what you said. Twist it anyway you want and it will come out the same. Besides, I've had way too many attempts to get me interested in girls through things like that that I simply ignore it most of the time now." Naru answered back.

"Well we're here now so let's save this conversation for when we have free time yes?" Mai asked as she looked at the ground.

Naru was slightly shocked. The girl had –probably unknowingly- alluded to the fact that she'd still talk to him even after this was all over. He didn't know why but it meant something to him. This girl certainly was an interesting one.

"_Earth to Noll,"_ Gene's voice broke through, _"Mai's trying to tell you something."_

"How do you think we should go about this since we don't have much time to waste?" Mai asked looking at the ground.

"Maybe we need to take the meaning of the word start and apply it here as well." Naru replied also looking at the dirt he stood over.

"Alright, let's each take a corner and meet in the middle." Mai rationalized.

"Very well." Naru agreed.

"Hey Naru," Mai said when she reached her corner.

"Yes?" Naru answered from his own respective corner.

"What do ya think we need to look for?" Mai asked as she crouched down.

"Well, the area has supposedly been cleaned and emptied so anything buried would be my guess." Naru replied as he did likewise.

"Okay then. Ready. Go!" Mai called out as if this was a race and she wanted to win. Naru watched her dig in the dirt furiously for a moment before starting himself.

The two met in the middle like Mai had said, though Naru had to fight down a sudden flutter in his stomach as his hand brushed Mai's. Damn that girl for evoking emotions in him that were supposed to be kept under lock and key! If Mai noticed –which she probably didn't- she gave no indication of it.

"Wait," she said as her fingers brushed against something that definitely was _not_ dirt, "there's something here!" she exclaimed excitedly.

After a few moments she pulled out a dusty box and brushed off the dirt. Mai looked at Naru.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"This could be it, but we should go somewhere more secluded to check." Naru added the last part realizing that they were extremely open for attack should a hunter really be tracing them.

"But what if there's more we need to do here?" Mai protested as Naru pulled her up by the arm.

"We're not going to go far" Naru explained, "just someplace a bit more closed in than right here."

Mai noticed his looking around, "Is something wrong?" she implored.

"Not sure just yet." Naru admitted, "but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Naru's gaze settled on a short raven-haired girl that seemed to be eyeing them through her shades. Something about her put Naru edge but it probably wasn't wise to alarm the girl next to him.

"Let's just leave for the moment." Naru said finally.

Mai simply nodded when her gaze fell on the same woman Naru's had.

After stepping over the rope Mai kneeled down to dust off her high-tops. The very moment she did so something sailed over her back, leaving an unfamiliar and unforgettable sensation as the deafening sound of a gun resounded through the park.

In the millisecond it took for all this to occur, it was an eternity to poor Mai. A moment of pause and her instincts caught up with her. She rolled up in a ball and screamed, though it was muffled by her position.

Hands grabbed at her in pulled at her to get up. Mai was in the middle of protesting them when Naru's face appeared inches in front of her own.

She barely caught the whispered, "Duck and run." Naru had ordered but complied nonetheless. Not that she had a choice since he was already dragging her along as he ran. The echo of another bullet resounded along with screams and Mai's maternal instinct kicked in. she hoped no one had been hurt on their cause.

Throwing a glance over her shoulder she caught the ebony mistress standing leisurely amongst the chaos. A simple revolver held lax in her hand.

Naru continued to bob and weave through the panicked people until they were safely out of the park.

"Are you okay?" he asked though it was punctured by intakes of much needed air.

Being too shocked to form coherent words, Mai nodded stiffly.

"Well I suppose that will have to do for now." Naru replied, "I can look you over for injuries when we get somewhere a little less chaotic."

"Well, what if we still need to do something?" Mai protested.

"We can look at what you found and come back when things have calmed down a little more." Was Naru's reply as he dragged her to the sidewalk.

When they were somewhat lost in the crowd Naru turned to see Mai shaking like a leaf.

"I think we should go to a hotel." Naru said as he watched her try to calm down.

"Why?" Mai asked as she wrapped her arms around herself in attempt to stop her tremors.

"Besides the security for important guests, it's very easy to get lost in." Naru replied as he offered her a hand to squeeze for the moment. She gladly took it and squeezed tightly a few times before letting it go.

"thanks." Mai said as she hailed a cab. "But can we go the bank first?"

"I suppose so," Naru answered, "but why if I may ask?"

"I count on us going places where they either won't accept credit cards or where it'd just be too slow to use them." Mai explained as the cab dropped them off at a particular band. She paid the man and he drove off.

Naru noticed that Mai simply bypassed the ATM and went straight to the bank. Over to a certain window if you really paid attention. Naru decided to hand back a little ways just for his own safety, he didn't know how Mai would react if he heard how much was in her account. It was a privacy thing.

After a few moments, the teller went and got a higher up. Mai went and got two cards out of her wallet, presenting them to the manager who took them and went to the back. Naru decided to move closer as this occurred. This wasn't normal procedure for withdrawals.

The teller had returned with the two cards as Naru approached them. He noticed that like the envelope, the cards did not say Mai Matsuzaki on them. Instead, they said that name Taniyama. Naru faintly remembered something about the name being from Japan and all, but in all honesty he really couldn't remember anywhere other than England, China, and here in New York. Though DC was where he resided currently, he was definitely thinking of going back to Japan to let his roots sink in and to forget everything and live in solitude for the rest of his days.

"Yes. Very good Ms. Ta-" the teller began.

"Could you please wait out here for a moment Naru?" Mai asked cutting the teller off.

"Alright." Naru replied.

Mai and the teller went out back. Naru watched her walk away. Something was very off about her and Naru wondered just who Mai Matsuzaki was. More importantly though, who was Mai Taniyama? Mai had two last names; it could have been understandable since she was adopted. But the fact that she was trying to hide it from him made him feel a bit uneasy about the situation.

"Ready?" Mai asked breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Of course." Naru answered as he stood and caught up with her.

They hailed a cab.

"Times Square please." Mai directed.

"You have a hotel in mind?" Naru asked.

"Yes." Mai replied, "And don't worry about the money, I got us covered."

Naru merely nodded in response. Mai watched him through the corner of her eye. She noted the way his jaw was tightened as his face seemed deep in thought. Watching him was starting to give her a headache, and surprisingly, her heart started to feel lighter.

'_Focus Mai'_ she mentally scolded herself, _'this is no time to think of things that won't ever happen.'_

The cab pulled to the side and Mai paid the driver. Naru woke from his trance and simply followed her into the building.

"Sorry miss. But we don't allow guests in until ten o' clock." The clerk told her. Mai struggled to keep her temper in check. Naru was watching her with amusement present solely in his eyes.

"Fine then," Mai said under her breath. "I need access to the Taniyama suite."

The clerk looked at her for a moment, "I was of the understanding that the suite would not be in use today." he gave a sigh, "do you have your gold card?"

Mai looked over at Naru, who had his gaze locked on one of the decorative paintings that hung in the lobby. Mai quickly flipped through her wallet and found both the card for this chain and her real ID. The clerk looked them over before handing them back along with a room key.

"Very good Ms. Taniyama." The clerk called to her as Mai made her way back to Naru.

Mai chose to ignore him.

"That was fast." Naru commented as both made their way to the elevator. "What floor will we be on?"

"The top." Mai said casually.

She steadily watched the numbers rise and noticed Naru fidgeting with something out the corner of her eye.

"Are you alright Mai?" Naru asked.

"Been better, though that will happen when we open this stupid thing." Mai replied.

The doors opened and Mai led them to the only door on the floor. She slid the card key in and opened it. They entered the dully colored, yet very nicely prepared suite. Mai heard the door click shut. Then another click that was easily ignored by her until Naru's voice reached her ears.

"drop the box and put your hands behind you." He commanded sternly.

Mai looked around to see Naru with a small pistol in his hand; it was pointed directly at her head.

"Head forward." He commanded once again. Mai complied tying to fight the urge to cry out.

"Mai, the box." Naru reminded her. Mai put the box down on the table in front of her and put her hands back behind her.

"Slip the bag off." Mai complied without a struggle each and every time and stepped forward.

"Nice to see you can follow orders," Naru's voice rang out with sarcastic amusement. Now Mai was fighting to not turn around and slap him upside the head, consequences be dammed. "Do exactly as I say and you won't be hurt." He whispered.

* * *

><p>before you wonder why naru can't just use his clairvoyant abilities to find Kasai, that will be addressed in the next chapter. anyways, reviews motivate me to get my stories updated faster. so if you can't wait i'd review...<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

i'm sorry this took so long... but it's really long to make up for it

disclaimer: nope still own nothing

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><p>Mai was at her limit for controlling everything she could. She wasn't very successful with it.<p>

"Move forward." Naru commanded again. Mai was momentarily frozen and did not comply. A nudge between the shoulder blades reminded her of what she was supposed to be doing.

"Mai." Naru gave a warning tone just to be sure. She was ushered forward into the large living room the suite had, the first of many rooms in the mini-apartment.

"Good, now sit on the couch." Naru ordered. From in front of him, Mai scowled, but she complied without a word. Naru scanned the room before hard blue eyes came into contact with cinnamon brown ones that were now a molten gold with the rage they displayed. There was a heavy moment of silence.

"Naru! What the heck is _wrong_ with you?" Mai shouted from her position.

"What's wrong with me?" Naru repeated. His eyes lifted upward as he tried to fight a smile.

"Yes what's wrong with you." Mai answered not noticing he was trying to hide the sliver of amusement at her blowup. "Normal people don't go around pulling guns on others. You gonna tell me or not?"

By this point Naru remembered why he'd pulled the stunt in the first place. He didn't answer Mai which just aggravated her more.

"Well?" she challenged him from her position on the couch before standing up.

Naru simply discarded the gun on the same table the box was on. He looked at her for a moment, before striding to her and slamming her against the wall. A little in pain, more shocked than anything, Mai flinched.

"You, little missy, have a lot of explaining to do." Naru ground out through his teeth.

"Let me go right now or else Naru." Mai threatened though his grip on her forearms was solid. And both were too distracted to notice Naru's knee in between her own.

"Or else what?" he asked amused that Mai thought she had any power in the current situation. Well that was until he took complete stock of the current situation. Naru fought a blush as he tried to focus on Mai's "supposed" threat.

_You're turning into a real pervert you know that Noll?"_ Gene asked in his head.

"_Not at a time like this Gene!"_ Naru yelled.

"I'll scream rape." Mai told him. Naru looked at her oddly for a moment, then he let her go and walked a few feet away from her. He didn't look it, but Mai knew he was conflicted with something. She could tell by the way his body was postured; tense as he stood deliberating something. And Mai could almost hear the wheels in his head turning. He turned back to her.

"We're the only ones on this floor Mai." He told her moving back to their position against the wall. "And I know that you aren't who you say you are. Please elaborate on that one."

"I, I don't know what you're talking about." Mai flushed indignantly.

"yes you do." Naru replied calmly, "it was on the envelope, the bank card, and the hotel ID. Your real name is Mai Taniyama and I'd like to know why you felt the need to hide it from me."

Mai scowled once more, "I told you earlier that I was adopted." She spat.

"True, but if that were simply the case you wouldn't have tried to hide it from me like you did." Naru countered. "I want to know why you felt the need to lie to me and I want to know everything right now." He demanded. Naru's eyes met Mai's and he noted they burned with an angry passion, Naru was impressed despite the situation.

"Oh yeah? And what about you?" Mai asked. She threw her hands up and stalked away from him.

"What about me?" he asked raising a brow.

"The one who gets thrown into an absurd situation with a weapon wielding nut job but can take it like it's all in a day's work is asking _me_ this?" Mai asked in disbelief. When Naru didn't give a response she continued. "Even if you are a retired cop or whatever, normal people don't react to situations like that the way you did. That makes me seriously doubt that you have absolutely no idea about why you're involved in all this. So before you go pulling a gun on me you have some things to explain to me first."

Naru; was speechless. He knew this girl wasn't very bright, at least not compared to him, but he'd always had the feeling she was very intuitive. Still that didn't mean he'd expected him to turn the tables on him lie she did. Mai took a breath and closed her eyes as though in concentration.

"We need to be completely honest with each other here." Mai said finally, "If not for the sake of our own survival than at least for the sake of our loved ones. If not, well, they might as well just kill us all now."

Naru looked at her for a moment, knowing she was completely right but not wanting to admit it. But how could he tell her his life story, the truth about who he was, and what had happened in the past few months? The answer was simple, he couldn't. But this woman, barely a woman, had come to him. He was totally dependent on her to find Kasai. After that, if she was lying he'd take care of her without drawing his gun.

"To start off with, you were right. My real name is Taniyama, not Matsuzaki. Now I don't know if you'd know about this, but my adoptive father or more accurately my big brother, is Hoshou Takigawa"

"What does that have to do with your real name?" Naru interjected.

"Takigawa is head and director of the Taniyama electronics company. He took over when my parents were murdered fifteen years ago in a home invasion. I was the sole survivor." He could see tears threatening to leak at the mention of her deceased family. Though now that she mentioned it, the Taniyama electronics company was very widely known in Europe where he'd spent most of his young life. And oh the irony, they were some of the biggest franchisers and supporters of paranormal research.

"But that would mean, you're the sole heir to the entire Taniyama Empire." Naru commented.

Mai fiddled with her hands, "See why I go by Matsuzaki now? All my life, even though my father's name was different from mine I was always known as Mai Taniyama, daughter to Hoshou and Ayako Takigawa, heiress to the electronics empire my poor parents built up from the ground. I was always pitied by the adults I met, and I had lots of friends, but that was a problem too. I had so many I couldn't tell which ones liked me for me, and which ones like me for the size of my wallet."

"I suppose I could relate to that." Naru answered. Mai shot him a glance as if to say 'shut up and let me finish'.

"I only wanted to live a normal life out of the spotlight, not be bought into all the best schools because of my family's name and power. So I often went to public schools rather than those elite schools where all the kids are stuck up and only care about surrounding themselves with the richest friends. I wanted to be normal, you know, have regular friends maybe even a boyfriend or two. I honestly don't know anymore."

Mai was looking down at this point so she missed the flare of jealousy that stole across Naru's face at the mention of boyfriends. No idea where it came from if you asked him.

"I was known in Japan, well known for the charity work my father was involved in as well as this big scandal they had with one of the families; something about a murder in the company, I don't really know, dad kept all of that under lock and key whenever I was in hearing. But because of that I had no desire to live in the spotlight with the expectations of others always weighing on my shoulders. Too much for me. So I begged dad to let me come to school here in America, there were company ties here in New York, so if I ever needed help I could easily get it. However, there are fans everywhere, so I changed my last name so I couldn't be recognized. For the past four years, I've been Mai Matsuzaki to all my friends and in everything I've done. That's why I freaked out when I found the envelope under my door this morning. It was addressed to me, by my real name. That means someone's known where I've been, and I don't think it was a recent discovery." She finished.

After a pause, Mai lifted her head to look at Naru. She couldn't read his expression. Naru knew she couldn't lie, it just wasn't physically possible. She'd been completely honest with him and the least he could do was return the favor.

"I'm originally from Japan as well." He began, "however, after I was born I was abandoned in America. Then, by a stroke of luck I was adopted by an English couple that specialized in psychic research. It turns out that I had extraordinary psychic abilities, so much that using them improperly could possibly kill me. But using minimal amounts of them turned me into a doctor. And I used my English name that was given to me upon joining a new family." He paused once more.

"what was it?" Mai asked

"Oliver Davis." Naru replied.

"Wait, you're _Oliver Davis_?" Mai blinked, "But I read in the paper a couple of months ago that you were killed by a gunshot wound." She tried to reason. Mai saw Naru grimace as she said that.

"I was leading up to that." Naru said in a tight voice. When Mai made no move to say anything, he continued. "I had a twin brother by the name of Eugene Davis. He was what you'd call a perfect medium. If he communicated a spirit he would speak the language the spirit spoke. We also had a strong connection that would let me bounce my power off of him until we reached the level of PK, or psychokenisis needed to move an object. When we were fifteen we moved to New York to conduct paranormal investigations. Three years later Gene and I were offered positions as temporary FBI agents. We took them, and became a great team because of his medium and my clairvoyant abilities. Basically if I could get an object that belonged to a missing person I could track their location. But then, there was this one case. Gene and I had to investigate a school in Japan where people were suffering injuries and they suspected a student was cursing them. We found and eliminated the hitogata or cursing dolls. And then I came down with a case of mild anemia. And I figured out that the teacher was the one behind all the curses. But before I could have her arrested, she escaped. A few months later, Gene and I were back in DC, where we worked, and were heading home. Then, we ran into a man, and he approached Gene, because I had a hat covering my face. He said a few things to him, then pulled a gun and before I could do anything he was on the sidewalk. He was dead before anything could be done." He had to stop, and Mai could see the pain that was hidden.

"Naru," she said, "I had no idea that you lost someone that close. Gene sounded like he was your best friend. I'm sure that if he was still here he'd tell you that nothing was your fault."

"He does tell me, all the time actually. But still, that bullet was meant for me. I know it was." Naru replied.

"What?" Mai asked.

"We have a bond, apparently strong enough to go across the border of life and death. He talks to me every so often. But increasingly so today, all those times I seemed not be paying attention to you was because I was actually talking to him. Anyways, we figured that if they wanted to have Oliver Davis dead, then they would get it. So it was published in the paper that Oliver Davis was dead. Then I went under the FBI as my birth name; Kazuya Shibuya. For now I've been on leave for over a month. The reason I've been able to get away with it is because the FBI like having me there to solve cases so they have to deploy less of their agents."

"Oh," Mai said processing everything. Then something dawned on her, "wait. Naru, you said you have clairvoyant abilities. You were given Kasai's barrette. Couldn't you track her down with it?"

"I tried already," Naru answered, "There seems to be a psychic barrier around her. Possibly your parents as well."

"I'm sorry, but that explains why you didn't like to talk about your past." Mai admitted.

"And that does explain why you didn't give your real name at first." Naru replied. "But the only thing I'm not entirely sure of is why you're involved in all this because you're just an heiress, while I'm an honorary 'police man' who's managed to make plenty of enemies in the short time I've been doing it."

Mai shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine."

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised." Urado muttered as he looked at the monitors that overlooked the city.

Ubusuna shrugged, "she got a little overexcited, not that I can blame her. If that had been me in her position I wouldn't have hesitated to put a bullet through the good doctor's head."

"People like her aren't supposed to make such careless mistakes." Urado argued.

"You want her dead anyways." Ubusuna pointed out, "so what does it matter who takes care of her as long as she's dead in the end?"

"You don't get it." Urado snapped, "Had she been hurt before I…" he trailed off. No, he couldn't tell Ubusuna yet. That would ruin everything and leave him out to dry.

Kasai didn't want to break. If there was one thing cousin Oliver taught her it was not to show fear no matter how afraid you actually were. However, it was hard not to be afraid when you were traveling to who knows where in a black car with tinted windows, and with strange men could and probably would rape her if they wanted to. But Kasai was a smart girl, and had been working at the knot that bound her hands since she woke up. It was almost completely undone, now all she needed was to wait for the perfect moment to jump up and out of the car and hopefully find some help.

Thankfully, the goons that had taken her hadn't noticed she was awake, to her great advantage. Now that her hands were undone she was working on her ankle bonds, thankful the thugs had put her in a lying position where her legs were tucked up close to her hands. Letting her do as she pleased.

Kasai kept her eyes closed as she undid the knots, while cousin Oliver had taught her self-control, cousin Gene had taught her slightly more useful skills; like tying and untying knots. The road was now bumpy, indicating that they were somewhere in the hicks at least. The bumps were starting to slide Kasai over to the edge of the seat and she would fall off it if she didn't move soon. She nearly did fall off when the car stopped abruptly.

"Grab her." One of the goons said to the other. Kasai kept her body limp like Oliver had told her as one of the grunts hoisted her up over their shoulder. Kasai cracked an eye open and caught sight of trees different than she had seen back home in China.

'_Okay, here goes nothing'_ she thought. She pulled the loosened ropes around her feet and ankles then jumped from the weak grasp the man had on her. When her feet hit the ground she tore off running. Where? She didn't know, but anywhere was better than where she was now. When she reached the tree line she ducked and ran close to the ground. She looked back for a split second to see the men after her. It caused her to bump into a chain link fence. Knowing she needed to pick up speed, Kasai quickly jumped and started climbing. But it was too late, she was grabbed and despite her struggles and cries she remained in the hold of the two men until they reached a seemingly abandoned warehouse.

"You two seem like you ran into trouble with this one." A cold voice that could only belong to an old man, resounded through the building. Kasai opened her eyes to see just the figure she had imagined the voice belonged to. A cold and scary looking old man.

"She was a feisty one, but nothin' we couldn't handle." One of the grunts replied casually.

"Let me go!" Kasai shouted as she started to wriggle in the arms of the grunt.

"That senseless screaming will cease this instance!" the older man snapped.

"Who are you?" Kasai asked in fear.

"That, would be none of your concern little girl." the man spat.

"How in hell is it none of my concern?" Kasai asked angrily, "You're the one behind my kidnapping you should at least give me your name." she argued.

"You are very much like your cousins." The man commented. Kasai froze.

"What do you know about my cousins?" she asked cautiously.

"Not much, but enough." The man admitted.

"Enough? Wouldn't you know more about my cousins if you're the one behind all this?" Kasai asked.

"I'm not behind all of this per say. But, I am getting paid a substantial amount of money for following orders." The man replied, before waving his hand in dismissal. "I'm tired of her, put her in with the others." He commanded.

The grunts pulled Kasai, kicking and screaming, into a storage room. The grunt with the free hands pulled out a gun as they approached a certain door. He cracked it open and pointed the gun inside.

"Stay where you are." He ordered pointing the gun into the shadows. The other grunt shoved Kasai into the room.

"Just dial for room service." The first grunt joked as they walked out and bolted the door shut.

Kasai curled up in a little ball. She shook uncontrollably as she cried. Then she heard a voice speaking in a language that she sort of recognized.

"Who's there?" Kasai lisped and switched between English and Chinese.

"I asked if you could speak English." A woman's voice replied.

Kasai's eyes adjusted to the din lighting the room possessed. And a figure stepped from the shadows. Kasai recognized the shape. It was a slightly older woman with red hair that went down to mid-back. The mystery woman went over to a beat up table lamp. The room instantly brightened and Kasai blinked. The woman smiled at her as Kasai nodded to answer her previous question.

"Who, who are you?" Kasai asked with a shaky voice. The woman simply knelt down so she could be eye level with the little girl.

"My name is Ayako Takigawa." She responded, "What's your name little one?"

"I'm Kasai, Kasai Shibuya." Kasai responded.

"Did they hurt you at all Kasai?" Ayako asked as she looked the girl over.

"No, though I might have a bruise from landing on my behind so much." Kasai admitted.

"Well, that's comforting to know." Ayako said in reply.

"I just want to know what they want with us." Kasai admitted with tears starting to well up in her eyes. Ayako wanted to just give her a hug and tell her everything would be alright, but she didn't want to lie to the girl.

"They mentioned something about my cousins, are they okay?" she asked.

"I'm sorry Kasai; I don't know who your cousins are or why you are here." Ayako admitted.

"Do you know why you're here?" Kasai immediately asked.

"I'm the wife of a CEO who has a few people that don't like the way he does business. I believe I am here as collateral to get him to hand over the company." Ayako answered. Kasai looked at her.

"Now come Kasai," Ayako picked her up and set her down on a cot, "let's share a few stories."

Currently Mai was avoiding all eye contact with him. She couldn't even look in his direction without feeling guilty. She had told him things she hadn't told people she'd known for five years and trusted more than him. Yet, if she hadn't she could be on the floor of the suite, dead. Mai looked at Naru out of the corner of her eye and saw him working a sharp knife in between the lips of the box they'd dug up, trying to will it to open. They were working in a very awkward and uncomfortable silence after the both of them had wordlessly agreed not to talk anymore about their past. Mai knew she should try and help him, but she couldn't stand to be in the same room as him at the moment.

"I need to go clean up." She told him as she left the living room. He waited a few minutes before setting the knife down on the table. Naru sighed as he took in his predicament. He pulled a small gun on a girl who'd only been shot at less than an hour before and was now using one of his throwing knives to try and pry the box open. And right in front of her where she could see the sharp edges.

'_What to do? What to do?'_ Naru thought as he fiddled with his hands, something he'd never do were it other girls that troubled him.

'_Here's an idea'_ Gene said, _'go apologize to her!'_ he shouted so loudly that Naru visibly flinched.

'_Why should I?'_ Naru asked.

'_Oh I don't know, maybe because you __**pulled a gun on her?**__'_ Gene shouted again.

Naru sighed, as much as he hated to admit it, his brother was right. He couldn't let this sit. Granted, he was just trying to protect himself and Kasai should Mai have been lying, but he shouldn't have just pulled out a gun and demanded an explanation for everything. Naru sighed once more before standing up from the couch and walking to the bedroom.

"Mai." He said as he knocked on the door. It slid open without an answer. Naru walked in and heard water running.

"Mai?" he called again. No answer. Naru took another step towards the bathroom. He knocked on the door.

"Mai?" Mai froze at the sound of her name.

"What? She called.

Naru pushed the door open slightly, "I think we need to talk."

Mai realized the door was opening and slammed it shut. "Do you mind?" she asked.

"What?" Naru asked in reply.

"You don't just walk into a bathroom when someone else is in there. I could have been indecent for all you knew. And if that had been the case and you'd walked in on me you would have been in big trouble mister." Mai lectured.

How unfortunate that she didn't realize her lecture was causing very untimely and illicit images to rush to the forefront of the mind that belonged to the person who was on the other side of the door as her.

There was a pause before Naru said, "Well judging from the way you slammed the door on me I'd say it _was_ the case and you're embarrassed about it."

Mai's cheeks flushed scarlet. True, she was only in her bra though the rest of her clothes were on, but that was because her tank top and jacket had gotten dusty from the dig.

"I am not." She snapped indignantly. On the other side of the door Naru suppressed a chuckle.

"Oh really?" he said in that holier-than-thou tone that Mai absolutely despised, "Let me guess, you're blushing right now, aren't you?"

"I just said I wasn't." Mai insisted.

"Said you weren't what? Indecent or embarrassed?" Naru wondered aloud.

"Get those mental pictures out of your head before I wipe that smug smirk off your face myself." Mai threatened.

Now Naru was shocked, Mai had wrenched the door open when she said that, and he couldn't believe she actually _was_ indecent. He shook his head and kept his gaze on her face. Mai looked down and squeaked. She quickly shut the door again, and it nearly pegged Naru square in the nose.

"Why did you come in here?" Mai asked from behind the door.

"Simple, you were avoiding me." Naru answered.

"I was not" Mai protested, "I was cleaning up the dirt I got on myself."

"And you were avoiding me." Naru finished.

Mai put her shirt over her head; she guessed it was partially true. She opened the door, surprised at how close Naru was standing.

"Can you really blame me?" she asked him before shutting the do/or once more. "I mean, you pulled a gun on me…" she trailed off.

Naru stared at the door blankly; he was surprised that she was focusing on something as trivial as _that_. Okay, so maybe it wasn't so trivial but it was when compared to the past few months of hell Naru had had to endure. However, he was slightly thankful she was only worried about the gun, rather than being completely freaked out by what had happened in his life these past few months.

"Well, I apologize for it." Naru said as sincerely as he could while still remaining emotionless.

"Gee, you know I'd feel so much better if I could actually hear emotion in it." Mai said sarcastically.

"It might not make you feel any better, but I will admit that even if you were an enemy I couldn't have shot you." Naru told her.

"Really?" Mai asked as she opened the door. "Why?"

"There were no bullets in the gun." Naru told her bluntly.

"Seriously?" Mai asked skeptically.

"Yes. I took them out in the elevator; it was only a test of your intentions." Naru explained.

"Oh… so _that's_ why you were fidgeting in the elevator earlier." Mai recalled what she'd seen.

"You were watching me?" Naru asked.

"Only out of the corner of my eye." Mai admitted, "But did you really not trust me enough to pull a gun on me and make me believe you were going to kill me?"

"Naturally." He answered, "Trust isn't something I just give away. Especially with my cousin's life on the line, so I needed to be sure you wouldn't kill me."

"I guess I can see where you're coming from. Trust might seem like it comes easy to me, but ever since the accident that took my birth parents away I haven't been able to trust people like I used to. But given the situation I have no choice but to trust you. I, I _do_ trust you." Mai told him with a slight blush betraying her cheeks.

Naru was taken aback by her admission and wished to return one, but he would not lie to her anymore.

"Mai," he began. Mai held up a hand.

"You don't have to trust me Naru," she said, "all I'm asking is that you don't distrust me. Now, please let me finish."

"You were serious about cleaning up?" he asked her, "You didn't get that dirty."

"Unlike men, women will not just walk around topless. Especially not with strange men in the room." Mai explained.

Without giving him a chance to respond to that Mai shut the door on him again. Naru heard the water turn on and sighed. He went back to the living room and finished working the lid off the box. A few moments later he'd gotten it off and Mai walked back into the room, tossing a bundle of…something at him.

"There" she said to him, "is that enough?"

"Enough?" Naru asked, he looked down at what had hit him while he was examining the object. "Is that enough money?" he said as he put down the box and picked up the wad of cash. "There has to be at least five thousand dollars here and you're asking me if I need more?" he looked at the money and thumbed through it.

"What?" Mai asked as she pulled up a chair and sat beside him.

"I had anticipated you making a withdrawal at the bank earlier, however, I didn't expect you to take this much." Naru said in reply.

"Well, put it in your wallet, well some of it at least. Put the rest in a coat pocket or something." Mai told him.

"very well, but you should carry some on you as well." Naru replied as he split the money and held it out to her. Mai waved it off.

"I've got my own on me." She explained, "Now what was the thingy we found?"

"I'd hardly call it a thingy Mai." Naru replied as he held the box out to her.

Inside was a wooden slab carved to look like a person. It even had a face on it.

"okay, I might not know much about spirits or ghost hunting or whatever it is that you do, but I'm pretty sure this has something to do with it and it's not gonna be good." Mai said as she picked up the wooden doll.

"Hmm… I believe it might be a blank hitogata." Naru said as he took it from Mai and examined it for himself. He faintly smelled traces of citrus, but that could just be Mai, who still had the scent of the hotel soap on her.

"What's a hitogata?" Mai asked watching Naru place it back in the box.

"Mind numbingly simplified it's like a Japanese version of a voodoo doll. The way it works is actually quite simple. You simply carve one, inscribe the name of the person you want cursed, infuse some of your own energy into it, and then place it in the cursed person's possessions. Then the target starts to have abnormal 'accidents' that usually cause bodily harm to them." Naru explained.

"Well, I guess my hunch was right." Mai said in response.

"Hmm… yes, it was." Naru mused. "Are you sure you don't want any more of the money?"

"Umm, no, I'm good." Mai shifted uncomfortably. Mai Taniyama was a girl who didn't need to worry about money or work. And Mai hadn't been that girl for half a decade. It would definitely take some getting used to.

Mai's eyes flitted over to the gun lying on the table. She recalled the earlier incident and then looked over at Naru to see him putting five throwing knives back into his coat pocket.

"More than a gun, don't you think it's a little bit too much?" Mai asked him.

"I don't intend to use either of them unless we're in danger. Think of them as for your, rather our protection." Naru answered.

"Well, the gun won't do you any good if it isn't loaded." She replied distractedly.

Naru looked over at her, she'd almost been shot by him and yet she was now telling him to load the gun. This girl was definitely something else.

"_Looks like you're only getting more attached Noll."_ Gene pointed out.

Naru waved off his brother's comment for the moment and watched Mai start the laptop up, again.

"You know now that I think about it, my PDA would have been so much better, but this thing has much more on it and better access wherever we go." Mai bit her bottom lip as she went into a pensive state.

"may I ask what you're looking for?" Naru said as he came up behind her.

"Looking for the new link." Mai answered. "We're supposed to get a new one since we found this thing."

Naru took a look at the screen and noticed something in the right hand corner.

"What's that?" he asked pointing to it.

Mai shrugged it off, "Just a new e-mail. Now where could that link be hiding…"

"Maybe you should check it." Naru suggested.

"Why?" Mai asked as she cocked her head at him.

"Just do it." Naru was now trying to keep the exasperation out of his voice at how dense this girl could be.

Reluctantly Mai clicked the little button. The e-mail in itself wasn't very alarming, but it was from an unknown sender and the subject was written as strike one.

_Three strikes you get_

_Three mistakes you can make_

_But if there's more you choose to take_

_Their lives will go to waste_

_Strike One_

_Return from where you came_

_Hurry back to resume the game_

_Else it's your own time you waste_

"What on _earth_ is that supposed to mean?" Mai groaned as she stared at the message.

"It means that you were right all along." Naru answered. "We need to get back to the park."

"Okay, now explain this 'three strikes' thing to me mister know-it-all." Mai replied testily.

"Basically, we can make three mistakes, wrong turns, whatever you like to call them. But if we make any more than that Kasai and your parents will be killed by default." Naru bluntly replied.

After a brief call to the front desk, there was a taxi waiting for them when they got outside. The traffic wasn't too heavy but it still put Mai on edge. Mai glanced over at Naru and made a mental note that she was doing that a lot. His mask was airtight but his eyes gave him away. Hard, unblinking, and tinged with guilt.

"Naru," Mai's voice caught his attention. "Don't beat yourself up about this. If you hadn't got us out of there when you did, we could be dead. Thank you for saving my life, even if you threatened it again not even an hour later." Mai cracked a smile at this last part and looked Naru straight in the eye as she did so.

Naru didn't respond to her other than a simple nod of the head, despite his brother's protests that he could do better than that. The truth was that he never got a thank you for all the work he did aiding the FBI. Not from the people involved in the cases, not even from the other officers. It was nice, and that fuzzy feeling he's been trying to shove away ever since he met Mai was starting to come back again.

The driver announced that they had arrived at their destination and the duo quickly exited the vehicle.

"What should we do?" Mai asked, "head back to the dig maybe?"

"Probably the best idea, but keep a low profile just to be safe." Naru answered.

They moved back towards the area of the dig, but per Naru's instructions they walked by it. Finding another path they sat down on a bench. Mai pulled out the laptop and brought the page out.

"Hey, there's something here." She said clicking on a new link. "wait, isn't a new window supposed to pop up?" she looked over at Naru. All that had come up on the screen was a jumble of letters and numbers. At least, that's what they seemed like to her.

"Coordinates." Naru said under his breath. He pulled out his phone and punched them in.

They led to a small somewhat secluded part of the park. It would be easy enough to have uninterrupted privacy.

"Now what?" Mai asked looking at the message one more time. "All it says under those is 'bury it'."

"Well Mai, I believe we're supposed to bury it." Naru retorted. "But first, I want to take some pictures of it." When he said Mai skeptical face he quickly added, "Just for reference later."

Mai sighed and told him to do whatever. After pictures were of the hitogata were taken from every possible angle, Mai found a stick and dug a medium sized hole in the ground. Just deep enough to be undisturbed, shallow enough to be dug up quickly though.

Once that was accomplished Mai pulled up the website once more. Sure enough there was a new clue.

_A hidden world, kept from the sun_

_It's a place where only people run_

_Going to cross to the wrong side of the track?_

_There's different rules there, so watch your backs_

_Below where the bell tolls_

_Is where you'll find out where to go._

"Seriously?" Mai asked the screen.

"It appears so." Naru answered and chanced a look at the girl next to him.

She was blanched, "Naru, I think it's my turn to be paranoid."

"Why is that?" Naru asked.

"I don't exactly feel comfortable being in a place where I was recently shot at. I feel to out in the open." She admitted.

"Alright," Naru said not bothering to try and convince her that the park was probably the safest place for her at the moment. "Where did you want to go?"

Mai was a little more at ease in the taxi as it made its way back to her apartment complex.

"I take it your very easy if you bring all guys to your house not even a day after you've met them." Naru commented.

"Don't make me hurt you." Mai threatened.

"I'd really love to see you try." Naru replied.

When they got to the door, Mai fumbled with her keys for a moment, then unlocked the door and removed her shoes. Naru watched her curiously for a moment before remembering that she had lived in Japan her whole life and that's what people did before entering a building.

"Make yourself comfortable." Mai said as she disappeared down a small hallway.

Naru looked at the walls of the brightly colored apartment. They were literally covered with photos. No matter what age was depicted Naru could always figure out who Mai was. In one of them she was latched onto the arm of another Japanese boy that looked her age and was giving him a kiss on the cheek while he smiled at the camera with cheeks the color of tomatoes. In another picture they were in front of NYU campus, both of them giving victory signs. Other photos revealed Mai and the boy with family and friends. The one that caught Naru's attention, was one of a teenage Mai with two people. One was a man with orangey-red hair pulled back into a ponytail with bang slightly hanging on either side of his face. The other was a woman with magenta hair that ran down to her waist. In the middle was Mai, and judging by the way Mai looked like neither, Naru guessed that they were her adoptive parents.

Speaking of Mai, whatever she was doing she was taking a long time. Naru decided to abandon the photo tour and look for her. He found her in what seemed to be her room. She was leaning over her desk and blocking the view of what she was doing. Her jacket lay on the bad and Naru got a very, for lack of a better word, good view of her figure. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, he felt something stirring in his chest at the sight of her.

"_Look at that, my baby brother's got a little crush. How cute."_ Gene observed.

That snapped Naru out of his semi-trance. He entered the room.

"Your living conditions seem merely adequate for someone of your status." Naru commented.

Mai jumped, "Geez Naru, don't scare me like that." She complained.

"It's better you're on your guard." Naru replied as he looked around.

Mai flushed before thanking god that she'd thoroughly cleaned her room yesterday so nothing was lying out in the open.

"What are you doing?" Naru's voice broke Mai out of her short reverie.

"Just transferring everything from my laptop to my PDA." She answered, "It'll be easier to carry around than the laptop. I'm also making copies of everything we've gotten so far."

"Very smart." Naru replied, "I didn't think you had it in you." Mai frowned at him.

"I hate you sometimes, you know that?" she asked him.

"I do now." Naru replied. "By the way, this seems like a very big apartment for someone who lives alone."

"I don't live alone." Was Mai's answer, "Yasu lives here too. That reminds me, I should call him and tell him I can't do lunch today."

"You got a text from him earlier." Naru told her, "He said that he couldn't make lunch either."

Mai shot him a look, "when?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice that spelled trouble.

"When we were at the park the first time." Naru answered.

"And you didn't tell me because?"

"It wasn't important at the moment."

"So rather than tell me I had a message you just opened and read it without telling me?" Mai was fuming now.

Before Naru could answer Mai's PDA beeped to let her know the upload was complete. Naru thought she'd let it go but a pillow to the back of his head told him different. It hadn't been thrown hard but it put Naru off his balance for a split second. Why could she catch him off guard?

"_Because you like her."_ Gene answered.

Was it true? If it was it scared him.

"Come on." Mai said as she stood in the doorway, "we need to figure out this clue."

Naru just stood there for a moment. Mai rolled her eyes before grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the room.

"Would you like coffee?" Mai asked as she sat him down on the couch.

"Tea is fine but if you don't have any coffee will do." Naru replied. "And I thought you didn't like coffee."

"I don't but Yasu drinks so much I swear he has blood made of coffee." Mai said from the kitchen.

"How close are you guys?" Naru asked.

"Pretty much been joined at the hips since freshman year. He dated an old roommate of mine but it didn't work out. But Yasu and I stayed close anyways." Mai replied.

"Close?" Naru asked once more.

"The closest." Mai answered not thinking anything of it.

Naru kept his features schooled, but he couldn't fight off the sharp jab of jealousy he felt for a man he hadn't even met.

"We should reread the clue." Naru said as Mai came back with a cup of tea from her private stash.

"I have nothing at the moment." Mai told him.

"Why am I not surprised?" Naru replied. He regretted it slightly when Mai slugged him in the arm.

"Knock it off." She told him. "I do have a few ideas but they all seem so unlikely. That's all."

"Well you should keep trying, in the meantime I'll send these pictures to a coworker." Naru told her.

When people would ask him why he liked to spend so much time in his basement, he would tell them he liked to keep busy. That and that it was a 'lab' not a basement. Whatever it was, it was certainly impressive. TV screens and monitors took up a corner of the large underground room , while a large computer was the forefront of operations. That and a bookcase completely filled with books on the paranormal were built into the wall floor to ceiling.

"Good morning master." The computer spoke in a smooth woman-like tone. "You have a new message."

"What?" the boy asked the screen. He had developed a special program that only let the utmost important messages make it into his inbox. Needless to say, he didn't get a lot of mail. However, pulling up the message proved an entirely different matter.

The message sounded like someone he knew. Examine this and confirm what it is. The boy clicked on the link attached. His eyes widened when he saw what it was.

"Dammit!"

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><p>okay quick favor to ask besides reveiwing, if anyone knows the names of the grumpy vice principal and the suicide kid from the case where we first meet yasuhara please tell me either in your review or a pm. thank you!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

yay another chapter done. by the way i changed my pen name just because i felt it more reflected the things i write about.

disclaimer: all i own is the computer i use to write this stuff with...

* * *

><p>"I'm not very happy with where this is all heading." Mai commented.<p>

"I'm not either, but it's the only place that makes sense." Naru replied.

They looked at the scrap piece of paper they'd been jotting ideas down on it that pertained to the latest clue. It led them to a very unsettling answer.

"I really don't think that's right. There's absolutely no way it could be right." Mai protested. She was shifting in her seat, knowing what she said was a complete lie. The two of them had been working at the clue for nearly a half hour and this was the only answer to it that actually made sense.

"Just because I'm a man doesn't mean that I like it any more than you do Mai." Naru told her.

Truth be told he doubted anyone would be looking forward to going underground in New York City. He'd heard rumors that abandoned subway tunnels were turned into communities for homeless people. Though it would seem more like a refugee camp than a homeless community. Up until a few minutes ago they'd had absolutely nothing to go on. Then Naru had a sudden realization (with a little help from Gene) and realized the riddle was pertaining to the pretty much tragic excuse for a subway system the city possessed.

"And what about the bell tolls part" Mai asked looking over at him.

"Most likely under the clock at grand central station." Naru replied.

"And when you say under, you mean deep under?" Mai asked in response.

"Yes."

Mai sighed, "I've always heard rumors of mole people living in the subway."

"All rumors start with fact." Naru commented. "It's just a matter of how twisted it gets as it's passed from person to person."

He leaned back on the loveseat they'd been sitting on and put his hands behind his head in thought. When they'd entered the apartment Naru had taken off his jacket, now he was only in his black button down and Mai found her eyes drawn to his abdominal region. The shirt was loose enough not to cut the blood circulation there, but tight enough so it didn't fall off him and left little of his abs to the imagination.

'_Geez, what else does he have hidden?'_ Mai wondered. Realizing where her thoughts were headed her cheeks became cherry red and she buried her head in her arms.

Naru looked over at her, "Mai, what are you doing?" he asked her.

Mai merely mumbled and buried her face deeper. Naru frowned.

"Are you alright?" he asked. With no response he pulled on Mai's arm.

"Mai if something's wrong you need to tell me." Mai was trying to keep herself away from Naru while still keeping her face covered.

"Mai." Naru said in a warning tone, he tugged a little harder. Mai still struggled. And the two began to fight in what would seem like a playful manner before Mai lost her balance and fell off the couch, taking Naru with her.

The way they fell would have someone wondering if they were a couple or not. Mai was on her back, arms by her side with Naru hovering over her in that famous 'awkward' pose. In other words he was over her with his hands bracing his weight on either side of Mai's head, while his knees were bracing his weight on either side of Mai's hips; his eyes were boring directly into hers.

"Naru, get off of me." Mai yelled as she tried to move his weight off her. When he didn't budge she blushed and got mad. "Naru!"

"What would you do if someone had you pinned like this?" Naru asked her as he continued to stare at her.

"W-What?" Mai asked as her cheeks continued to get redder, "Do you realize how uncomfortable this is for me and yet you insist on asking pointless questions?"

"I want to know if you know how to defend yourself." Naru said as he freed his hands one by one and grabbed her wrists, forcing them above her head.

"I can take care of myself Naru." Mai told him.

"Obviously, yet you're in this position. Why is that?" he asked.

"Because you won't get off me." Mai replied.

Sighing, Naru got up. "The way you said it, I don't have very much faith in you." He told her. "Looks like I'll have to keep a constant eye on you."

"I told you I can take care of myself Naru." Mai shot him a withering look and turned away from him. "I don't need you to babysit me."

"Oh really?" Naru's voice came from behind her.

"Yes really." Mai snapped not turning around.

Big mistake, within moments Naru had his arms wrapped around her; pinning her own to her sides.

"Naru, this isn't funny." Mai said as she wriggled and struggled against him. "Let me go."

"Not until you make me." He informed her.

"But I don't want to hurt you." Mai protested.

"Then show me." Naru leaned closer to her ear, "Show me what you'd do slowly and gently." Mai felt shivers run down her spine, and her skin start to break out in goose-bumps.

"O-Okay." Naru had to fight down a self-satisfied smirk as Mai's brain started to short-circuit.

Mai shifted slightly. "Well let me think, first I'd try and kick you in the shins or at your ankles. Then I'd go at your kidney. After that I'd try to loosen your grip on my going limp or trying to pinch you."

"Then what?" Naru asked.

"I'd probably take a page out of a woman's fighting technique book." Mai explained.

"Meaning what exactly?"

"Solar plexus, instep, nose, groin." Mai told him as he let her go.

"Sounds effective." Naru commented, "But might I suggest running as your best option?"

"Whatever." Mai scoffed.

Naru noticed she didn't immediately face him as she spoke. "And might I add, most men will try to keep you away from the lower half of their bodies unless they're trying to rape you. So don't rely on that as a never-fail hit spot." He said matter-of-factly.

Mai turned to him, "One of my old roommates called it the ultimate move." She said with a smile.

"But at least now I'm more convinced that you know how to protect yourself in the case that we get separated." Naru told her.

"In this city? Every girl should know how." Mai replied. "Now come on, just because I don't like creepy subways doesn't mean I'm going to avoid them."

"I would have dragged you down there if you refused anyways." Naru told her as he handed her the repacked bag.

"Come on." Naru ordered.

"Another minute." Mai protested.

"Mai." Naru urged.

"Watch that tone." Mai shot back.

"Mai, this is a service walkway. Even if the trains down here were still running you'd be perfectly fine." Naru explained.

"Shut it." Mai told him before continuing her pacing on the platform above him. Unladylike it might have been, but Naru would be dammed if it wasn't cute.

"Mai, nothing's going to happen to you." Naru tried again.

"Famous last words Naru, famous last words." Mai resumed pacing.

Naru crossed his arms and fought the urge to roll his eyes at how ridiculous she was acting.

"_Oh, so my brother likes feisty women."_ Gene commented.

"_Not helping Gene."_ Naru informed him.

"_Wasn't trying to."_ Gene shot back in a singsong voice.

Naru decided to tune out his currently annoying brother and began to mutter something in Italian. Normally when he was frustrated and in America he'd start muttering in Japanese, but since Japanese was Mai's first language it wasn't the best idea.

"What did you say?" Mai asked him from above.

"Absolutely nothing." Naru lied.

"Yeah right." Mai scoffed, "You were insulting me."

"I was not." Not a lie, but not the whole truth either.

Mai started pacing again. Naru was just about ready to go back up there and get her when Mai stopped and took a deep breath.

"Alright, I'm ready now." She told him.

"finally." Naru replied ignoring the glare Mai sent him.

Mai walked over to the edge, looked down, and backed up slightly.

"Um, little help here?" she asked him.

Naru suppressed a sigh, crossed the tracks to below the platform, and held out his hand. "Grab on," he told her, "I've got you."

Mai took his hand and did something that was a cross between a jump and a slide as she made her way down. Unfortunately, she stumbled after her feet hit the ground and would have gone flying forward if Naru hadn't been there. Mai was leaning heavily on Naru while his arms had automatically wrapped around her waist.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he made no move to help steady her.

"I'm fine." Mai answered and noted that Naru's arms didn't budge from their current position, keeping her in place. She looked up from where her face had been forcefully buried in his chest. "You're enjoying this aren't you?" she asked him.

Naru's arms dropped as Mai uprighted herself with an embarrassed blush. She looked over at Naru, who was staring at her oddly. "What?"

"Nothing." Naru answered quickly, "But I'm assuming your nickname isn't grace."

"Why you!" Naru dodged a punch as Mai fumed. "I have some issues with vertigo; you have a problem with that?"

"Mai that isn't vertigo. It's probably less than five feet." Naru informed her.

"Thank you mister know-it-all." Mai said sarcastically.

"You're welcome." Naru said stoically.

He then turned to the walkway, keeping Mai under watch through the corner of his eye. Naru was pretty sure it wasn't vertigo but the fear of being underground as well as the creepiness of the tunnel they were in that had Mai a bit off. Though she was always a bit off, it was just more than normal. But the fear of a place like this was a perfectly rational one and if Naru had a mind to do it, he could admit to sharing it. However, he was much better at controlling his emotions than most people and so always seemed calm and collected no matter what the situation was. When they reached the walkway Naru gave a hand to help her up before climbing up by himself. Before they'd left, Mai revealed herself to be somewhat of a hacker, when they'd done a search of the city records though Naru'd been assured it was public information. They'd found that there was an abandoned tunnel that ran under grand central station. However, it was a hike from where they could access it quickly; one Mai was not looking forward to by any means at all.

"Alright, which way do we go now?" Mai asked him once they were steady on the walkway.

Naru looked at the GPS on his phone, "It says to go this way." He pointed to his right.

"You absolutely sure we'll be able to keep the signal in the tunnel?" Mai asked him.

"I believe so." Naru answered.

"Well, I think we should transfer it to my PDA" Mai told him. "I have a better chance of keeping a signal down here than you do."

"And why is that?" Naru asked. He had the latest Iphone and if that couldn't keep a signal down here he doubted Mai's PDA could.

"One of the perks of being the heiress to an electronics company is knowing and having access to all things that run on electricity." Mai told him. "In other words, besides this particular PDA having a very long battery life and very amazing reception abilities; it's also hooked up to a privately owned satellite." Mai blushed slightly as she said the last part and before Naru could even think of a way to protest Mai had already punched in the coordinates and handed Naru the device.

"Impressive." Naru commented while he looked the device over.

"Thank you." Mai replied.

"I was referring to the device." Naru informed her.

"Why you… whatever you narcissistic jerk." Mai told him. "Anyways, are you sure this isn't an active sub line?"

"positive." He answered quickly.

"so we don't have to worry about being run over or electrocution?"

"We'll be safe from those things at the very least." Naru answered.

"And what about the homeless people?" Mai asked him.

"Just stay in front of me and close by me. Don't confront them and don't give out money. Keep your bag out in front of you." Naru advised letting Mai step in front of him.

"The homeless here in America are really different from the ones back home." Mai commented. "I'm still not used to how people here treat them."

"Agreed." Naru replied. "I've lived here for six years, I've only ever been to Japan for work, yet the people there and in England are treated better than here. But for now we should focus on the task ahead." He made a sweep of the space in front of them with the flashlight they'd taken from Mai's apartment.

"Hey Naru, what about rats?" Mai asked out of the blue.

"Rats?" he questioned, slightly off kilter with Mai's train of thought. (Unintended railway pun since they're in an abandoned subway tunnel)

"Like the ones you call an exterminator to get rid of?" Mai asked in hopes he'd recognize them.

"Those we will have to watch out for." He admitted and felt Mai tense up. Almost as if it was automatic, Mai moved closer and one of her hands clutched at his shirt.

"Are you scared Mai?" Naru asked her, "I didn't think you'd be scared of something like them considering the situation we're in."

Mai could practically feel the smirk he was trying to suppress, but resisted the urge and calmly answered. "I won't faint or scream and freak out at the sight of them but I'd prefer not to interact with wild ones."

"And by wild you mean?"

"The ones that live in the pet shops are pretty cute, but I heard that the ones that live in the city are mean and I'm not in the mood to be bit by a rat today."

"Then pray tell, what would you rather be bit by." Okay, not the best time to be asking about something like that but Naru couldn't resist. She'd set herself up for that one.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" was Mai's response. She was getting better at giving vague answers to keep anything she wanted private to stay there.

"Well, at any rate if you want to avoid them I suggest you avoid looking at the tracks." Naru answered her first question.

"Not funny Naru." Mai told him.

"Wasn't trying to be Mai." Naru replied. He was serious about not looking at the tracks though.

A few minutes passed in silence as the two continued to make their way. Then Mai gave a little squeak and nearly latched onto Naru's arm. Naru suppressed a sigh, already knowing what the problem was going to be, but he asked anyway.

"What's the matter Mai?" he asked as she let go.

"I looked at the tracks." Mai admitted.

"Didn't I just tell you _not_ to do that?" Naru asked.

"Yeah, but I didn't think you were actually serious." Mai replied.

"Very well, let's keep going." Naru told her.

Mai let him get two steps ahead of her before moving as well.

"Jeez, I know this will make me sound like a snob, but this place smalls awful." Mai broke the silence moments later. Naru was sure that if he put the flashlight beam on her he'd see her crinkling her nose in disgust. The picture in his head was cute.

"_At a time like this Noll?"_ Gene asked him, _"How strong is your drive for this girl?"_

"_I'm pretty sure you have the lecherous thoughts about her, not me Gene."_ Naru replied.

"_That _might _be true. But the difference between me and you is that I'm dead, you're not. So even if I did have those kinds of thoughts about her, which I'll tell you right now I don't, I can't touch her. So it doesn't matter."_ Gene replied.

Naru decided to turn his attention back to Mai. "You won't be a snob if you say that Mai." He told her. "In this one instance you're absolutely right. It smells completely wretched down here."

"Naru?"

"What?"

"I think we're being followed."

The words set off a warning bell. Naru's first instinct was to turn around and face the threat Mai sensed, mostly because he wasn't sure how capable Mai was at defending herself. He reached behind him and pulled her closer. Naru kept them moving while he considered his options. He couldn't really do anything while he was unsure of Mai's defensive training. Now he could hear the footsteps that put Mai at unease. Whoever it was wasn't trying to hide themselves, so Naru doubted it was the hunter from earlier.

"Mai?" Naru said in a low voice.

"Yes?" Mai replied in an equally low sounding voice albeit more feminine and a little higher than Naru could manage.

"Back at the hotel, you said you trusted me right?" he asked her as quickly as he could while keeping all emotion, especially worry, out of his voice.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" she asked in a hurried whisper.

She felt, rather than heard Naru's response as he pulled her face to his chest then firmly wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He made a quick movement and Mai didn't even register what was going on until she was back on the ground, though a bit unsteady on her feet.

Turns out, Naru had pulled her close so he could enough of a grip on her to swing her over the tracks and put himself in between her and the possible threat. Mai looked over her shoulder to see Naru with the pistol out and the flashlight trained on whoever was behind them.

"Not another step." He warned. He wasn't yelling, but his voice echoed off the walls anyway.

Mai saw two people freeze in the flash of light. She also saw the light reflect of the knives they carried quite casually. The light was a bit of help but with it only shining on the two people there could be more hiding in the darkness that had come to be their element. Mai heard scuffling footsteps coming her way and on instinct kicked out her foot. It caught a man in the gut and he went down with a groan, the knife he carried making a clatter nearby. Mai reached out and groped for the knife. She found it, but it was awkward to hold so she doubted she could do much good with it.

"You okay?" she heard Naru ask from behind her.

"I think I'm good." She replied.

"What are you two? Cops?" they heard one of the "locals" ask.

"Yes, we're with the police force." Naru replied calmly. "However, we're only here for some help. More along the lines of information."

"What the hell's goin' on here?" a new voice asked. Mai shut her eyes as a new light shined in her face.

"Lydia," the second man Naru was facing called out, "these two say they're cops."

"Who's in trouble now?" the voice asked exasperatedly. A healthy sized Latin-American woman came into view. She had some sort of accent indicating she was from the Bronx, or some area of the like.

"Don't know." The man replied.

"As I said before, we're not here for anyone. We just want some information." Naru told her.

"Then why in hell's name are ya here?" Lydia asked. She heard a groan from the man Mai had kicked down. "Dammit Nicky. Ya been drinkin' again haven't ya?"

Mai looked at the woman as she examined the man on the ground with her flashlight. Mai saw a glint and noticed a sizable crucifix round her neck.

"I'm sorry" Mai apologized, "I didn't think I'd kicked him that hard."

"Sweet pea, ya couldda breathed on 'em an' he'd 've gone over just as hard." Lydia replied. She stood up and looked past Mai and Naru. "Was that what you two was down here fer? Lookin' fer Nicky?"

"Yeah, but instead a Nicky we found these two." The man indicated Mai and Naru; who still hadn't lowered his gun from the two. Lydia looked at Mai.

"Tell yer partner to put the gun away. These two don't want no more trouble than the rest of 'em." She informed her.

"You hear that partner?" Mai asked him. "You can put the gun away now."

"And who's your friend Mai?" Naru asked in response.

"Um, Lydia?" Mai offered.

"Sister Lydia Moesia." Lydia introduced herself. "And honestly, ya can put the gun away. These two won't hurt 'cha."

Mai felt Naru's arms lower but from the tenseness of his body Mai knew he'd be ready at a moment's notice.

"Yo, Ronnie, Alex, can ya get Nicky here back home?" Lydia asked.

The two nodded. And to Mai's mixture of horror and disgust they jumped into the tracks and scrambled up the other side before picking up the unconscious Nicky and carting him off.

"You two got any ID on ya?" Lydia asked when the men were out of sight. Naru handed Mai the flashlight and pulled out his ID.

"I'm not exactly what you'd call a police officer." Naru explained when he saw Lydia's eyes widen at the badge.

"I'd have to agree with that." She replied as she handed the badge back to him. "Can't say there's ever been an FBI agent down here mister Shibuya." She turned toward Mai. "And what about you sweet pea?"

"That's a bit of a story." Naru stepped in. "one that we unfortunately don't have a lot of time for. But I can tell you that she's important to the case I'm working right now and because there were no safe houses available at the moment, I'm here as her body guard for witness protection."

"Ah," Lydia said in understanding. "Well as long as ya ain't gonna make trouble then ya ain't gonna have it." She told them. "Unfortunately we've 'ad alotta idiots commin' down here lately tryin' ta get people in stupid shit like drug rings and crap like that."

"I must say that for a nun you certainly have a way with words." Naru observed. "I have a friend who's a father in a parish and the nuns there don't speak nearly as, _eloquently_, as you do."

"Meh." Lydia shrugged.

"What are you doing down here anyways?" Mai asked. "Honestly this is the last place I'd ever expect to see a nun."

"Doin' God's will." Lydia answered. "Just makin' sure everyone has a little somethin' in their stomachs every now and then."

"Wow." Mai said in awe.

"Ain't the greatest job in the world but someone's gotta do it." Lydia said. "So what's the reason fer you two bein' here?"

"This is where the next clue said to come." Mai answered without thinking.

"Clue?" Lydia raised an eyebrow.

"It's complicated." Naru said while placing a hand over Mai's mouth.

"I ain't gonna press ya on it." Lydia said.

"Well we've been trying to access a certain point via GPS and we have reason to believe it's in the center of the community." Naru explained while trying to keep Mai from biting his hand.

"Hmm…" Lydia voiced with a skeptical tone present.

"It might not seem like it, but it's the truth." Mai told her once she'd effectively gotten rid of Naru's hand on her face.

"Not sayin' I don't believe ya." Lydia told them. "I was just thinkin' that it might be best to keep everyone in the community outta the loop. Don't want any more trouble for 'em then they already got."

"If possible we'd like to keep anyone who doesn't need to be involved uninvolved with this." Naru assured the nun. "That includes you."

"Alright then." Lydia said after a moment of deliberation. "Let's go see if what yer lookin' fer is down here."

"This feels so weird." Mai whispered to Naru as they followed Lydia down the tunnels.

"Just stay calm." Naru whispered back.

By now they'd come to a crossroads where dozens of tracks met and dozens of crudely constructed houses were settled. Many of the inhabitants that had been out in the open were now "safely" hidden inside their makeshift houses when Mai and Naru passed. Those who didn't just watched without moving.

"You come down here every day?" Mai asked.

"I try." Lydia answered. "Now where do ya think what ya need is?" she asked.

"My phone isn't getting a signal anymore." Naru informed Mai. "What about your PDA?"

"Let me check." Mai pulled out the device. "I can't get an active map, but I'll get a crazy signal when we're near it." She replied.

"Fancy piece of equipment ya got there." Lydia observed. Mai flushed.

"It was a gift from my parents." Mai said quickly. Lydia just looked at Mai expectantly.

"Don't 'cha think _you_ should be leadin' the way then?" Lydia asked when it was clear that Mai was not going to come up with the answer on her own.

"Oh, right." Mai replied sheepishly. She pointed the handheld device in a few directions before getting the one so desired. They walked in that direction for a minute or two before stopping.

"This is it." Mai said biting her bottom lip, "But there's nothing here."

"And you're sure that this is the right place?" Naru asked.

"The GPS doesn't seem to be malfunctioning so I would say so." Mai looked back at him. "Naru, what do we do now?"

"What exactly are you two lookin' fer?" Lydia asked as she stood behind the two.

Mai shook her head but didn't look up from the screen. "I have no idea."

"So what's the deal with these two Lydia?" a new, yet familiar voice asked. Mai looked up to see the two men from before in the community with them.

"Nothin' special." Lydia answered. "Ya got Nicky all tucked in safe?"

"Safe as he can get without bein' put in a straitjacket." The one Mai thought was Alex answered seriously.

"Oh wait!" Mai's sudden outburst caught the attention of everyone. She dug in one of her pockets and pulled out the knife from earlier. "Here, you should give this back to your friend." Naru gave her a skeptical look while the rest of them just gave her weird ones.

"You picked this up for Nicky?" Ronnie asked.

"Was it wrong to do?" Mai asked suddenly self-conscious. The knife was taken out of her hands and the two men looked at her.

"Hate to break in on this heartwarming moment." Naru said not sounding like it at all. Like he ever sounded like he felt anything in the first place. "But we still have no idea as to what to do."

"What's the problem?" Alex asked.

"These two came down here lookin' fer somethn'. But they ain't got no clue what." Lydia surmised.

"Sounds stupid to me." Ronnie laughed.

Naru simply plucked the PDA out of Mai's grasp and studied it himself.

"We could possibly have been mistaken." Naru admitted.

"But this is the only thing that makes any sense." Mai argued.

"Hmm… I'm not totally convinced about Grand Central Station." Naru mumbled.

"But it was _your_ idea." Mai moaned.

"Think about the choice of words Mai." Naru tried to reason with her. (Wow that's a first) "The clue says 'bell tolls' but it could have just as easily been stated at 'clock chimes'. Why word it that way?" he asked.

"Wait, you're looking for a bell?" Alex interrupted.

"I suppose," Naru said, "you have one?"

Lydia grinned. "Why didn't ya say so in the first place? Right this way."

"I'm going to head for New York." Lin deadpanned.

"Sure, and I'm going to win the lottery without buying a ticket." Madoka mused from behind her paperwork.

"I'm serious Madoka. There's something wrong with Noll and it's my job to know what."

"Lin, I know that part of your job involves being a bodyguard for Noll. But come on. The kid is twenty-one years old now. He doesn't need to be under constant supervision." Madoka told him. "Besides, maybe this whole thing will do him some good. It's about time a girl caught his eye. Do you know how long Luella's been bugging me about Noll finally settling down and giving her some grandkids?"

"I didn't come here for a lecture from you I came for a favor." Lin informed her.

"Look Lin, even if you managed to get to New York how are you gonna find him without revealing his identity? Go around and ask people if they've seen him?" Madoka gave Lin her full attention. "but if you need a favor I'll see what I can do."

"Perfect, meet me at the Hamilton for lunch and I'll discuss the rest with you then." Lin said as he got up to leave.

"Bit of a haul for a half hour lunch break Lin." Madoka frowned.

"I'll buy." Lin offered hopefully.

Madoka's face instantly brightened. "okay, what time?"

"Twelve good for you?"

"I suppose."

"Try and be there as soon as you can."

"And what are you going to do in the meantime?" Madoka asked as Lin walked out the door.

"A bit of research." He said stopping at the doorframe. "Meet you later."

Madoka couldn't keep the worried look off her normally cheerful features.

"So it was referring to an actual bell." Naru said a little slowly to process.

"If you say so." Ronnie answered. "This thing showed up here a few weeks back."

"Showed up?" Mai asked.

"Yeah."

"People show up draggin' all sorts a things down here. No one really pays any attention to it."

"I could have sworn it was a metaphor." Mai replied.

She took a tentative step forward, she kept walking until she was directly beneath the bell and pointed the light upward into it.

"Naru!" Mai practically squealed. "there's something here!"

Naru briskly walked to her and looked up. Sure enough there was something in that bell that clearly didn't belong.

"Huh." Alex grunted as he cocked his head to the side. "Never noticed that up there before."

"Probly 'cause we never thought to look." Ronnie added.

Naru wasn't paying attention as he was looking for a way to get up to the bell.

"Maybe we could try knocking it down?" Mai thought out loud.

Naru simply handed her his black trench coat in response before taking a look at the houses and debating which one was sturdy enough to hold his weight.

"Naru what are you doing?" Mai asked as he quickly tested the sturdiness of the house.

"Hey! Break one of those things and you're gonna get it. I don't care if you are a cop!"

"Ronnie! Don't say such things!" Lydia scolded him.

"What?"

"Naru you better not be doing what I think you are." Mai warned as she caught on to what Naru was attempting to do.

Naru didn't respond as he found a suitable house and hoisted himself up on it.

"Naru! You're not a gorilla in a zoo that can do these things without danger! Get back on the ground!" Mai yelled after him.

Naru was now scaling the wall thanks to various metal attached to it that provided as footholds. And as soon as he got a hold on the overhead pipes that ran along the ceiling he was crawling along them too. Mai was once again impressed by him, as he made his way hand over hand to where the bell hung.

"If you get hurt I'm not going to feel bad for you." Mai yelled at him as he came back to above where everyone was standing.

"And I thought you said you didn't care. But I don't need any pity." Naru called down as he reached the bell.

Mai shook her head. "And you call me the idiot? That's a laugh compared to what you're doing right now!"

"You two sure have an interesting relationship." Lydia commented as she and the other two men watched the exchange. "Are ya datin' or somethin'?"

Mai flushed bright red and whipped her head around to look at the nun. "He wishes!" she said indignantly.

"No I don't." Naru called down from above as he started jiggling the object stuck in the bell. When it was finally loose he called down to Mai. "Mai catch!" and dropped the object.

"What!" Mai squeaked as the object fell down. After a few minutes of fumbling she had it steady in her hands.

"Nice to see you can catch and object of such fragility." Naru said.

Mai expected him to crawl back and get down like a normal person but she forgot that Naru was not normal. Instead he dropped to the ground and landed like a cat. He took his coat back from Mai and put it back on.

"Show off." Mai grumbled under her breath.

"It looks the same as the last one." Naru commented as he pulled another hitogata out of the box.

"That's what all the fuss's about?" Lydia asked as she got a closer look at the object.

"It would appear so." Naru replied.

A shrill cry broke through the air. And a girl with gray hair pulled in two messy braids and a set of cracked glasses stumbled in. She wore a tattered school uniform that didn't seem to be from America. The girl started speaking rapidly in a language that Mai was sure was Japanese, but she couldn't be completely sure with how fast she was speaking.

"She okay?" Mai asked.

"Seems to be. She showed up a few weeks back, but no one understands her. She speaks a little English but it's so broken no one can understand that either. We think she's from one of the illegal harem houses here in New York." Lydia explained.

Mai's face contorted, it was disgusting that things like that even existed in the first place, let alone in America.

"Yeah, but she's been getting better at not being afraid of her own shadow." Ronnie continued. "Something must have really got her if she's like this."

Naru walked over and started talking to the girl in the same language. Since he was talking slowly, Mai could make out some of the words but not others. She realized that it was a miv of Japanese and some other language. The girl was speaking very rapidly and more than once Naru had had to gesture with his hands to slow down.

"Excuse me." Lydia broke in to the conversation. "Can you tell her I want to help her get out of here?"

Naru nodded and told the girl. She shook her head. He tried again making the sign of the cross over his body. The girl looked uncertain but nodded her head and stood up with him.

"she says her name is Kurado. And that there's someone of great danger here in the tunnels." Naru explained.

"Kurado huh?" Alex asked. "And all this time we've been calling her Little Jap."

"How stupid." Naru remarked. "Stay here while I take a look at who this person of 'great danger' is."

"Like hell I will." Mai spat before running off after him.

She caught up with him when he stopped to peer around one of the makeshift houses. Mai was surpised he didn't hear her coming behind him the entire time.

"I told you to stay." Naru practically hissed when he finally saw her.

"And I'm telling you now that I am _not_ a dog." She hissed back.

Naru looked around the corner and saw something that made his blood run cold. He swore under his breath and started backing Mai away before going in front of her, grabbing her by the wrist, and breaking out into a full out run.

"Is there another way out of here?" Naru asked as he came running back to Lydia, dragging Mai along with him.

"Somethin' wrong?" Lydia asked.

"Hopefully not." Naru replied. "The dangerous man isn't looking for Kurado, he's looking for us," he gestured to Mai and himself. "But it would be in the best interest for everyone if he didn't find us."

Alex stepped forward. "Come on, I'll show ya another way out."

"Wait Naru." Mai tugged at his sleeve. "Remember what happened the last time we left a place just after finding a clue?"

Naru sighed. "She's right. Is there anywhere we can hide out until it's safe."

"We'll stick ya in with Nicky." Ronnie offered. "Not like he'll notice bein' passed out an' all."

"Thank you." Mai said sincerely as they led the way to one of the houses.

"Yeah, yeah. If ya keep yer mouths shut we won't have any trouble." Alex grumbled.

"Shut yer yap Alex!" Ronnie scolded.

They arrived at one of the houses and the blanket door was pushed aside to let Mai and Naru in. everything seemed fine until shouts were heard from where they'd just come from.

"I'm gonna go check on Lydia." Alex said bolting out of the house.

"Naru, who did you see?" Mai asked.

"One of the former teachers from that high school I told you about." Naru replied. "He was one of the ones that made the teacher who was hexing the school go off the deep end. But now he works for her."

"What are you two talking about?" Ronnie asked.

"Something I'd love to hear more about when we have the time for it." Mai replied. "Unfortunately now isn't the time for telling stories."

"You should check the site Mai." Naru ordered.

"Nothing yet, it's redirecting." Mai replied pulling out the device. After a few minutes she spoke again. "You were right. The address is for Grand Central, but I have no idea what these other numbers mean."

"We should leave now then." Naru responded and turned to Ronnie. "Is there a quick way out of here?"

Ronnie nodded and led them to a service ladder. "Here, this should take ya right up."

"Should?" Naru asked skeptically.

"I don't generally go this way but it's what I'm told." Ronnie replied.

"Thank you so much." Mai said turning around and giving Ronnie a hug.

"y-you're welcome." The older man replied returning it.

"You head up first." Naru told her.

Mai turned and said one last goodbye before turning and starting the ascent. Naru let her get a good few feet ahead of him before starting his own journey. A tug on his coat stopped him at the fifth rung.

"stay safe." He told Naru seriously. "and take extra special care of her. She's somethin' else."

Naru looked up at Mai for a moment. "I think you may be right."

"Naru!" a hurried whisper came from up above. "hurry up!"

"coming." Naru called up climbing and leaving Ronnie and the underground world behind.

Naru reached Mai; who was fumbling with the service doorway. She jiggled the handle.

"Uggh. It's stuck!" Mai grunted.

"Do you need help?" Naru asked.

"Sure." Mai replied.

"Alright. Try to stay focused on opening the door." Naru told her as he began to move.

Mai thought he would stop once he was directly below her. She was so wrong. Naru kept climbing and spread his arms and legs as he did so in order to climb until his face was against Mai's lower back and his arms were on either side of her waist.

"There. Now you can use both hands to try and open the door." She heard Naru's voice muffled against her body. The worst part was the vibrations traveled down her spine and made it hard to focus on the task at hand.

Faster than she thought possible Mai had the door open and was through it not really caring what was on the other side. Naru followed up shortly after.

"What's wrong Mai?" Naru asked. she was breathing heavily and holding her hand to her chest.

She looked up, and her face was bright red. "Oh nothing, I'm absolutely fine."

The truth was that she was anything _but_ fine and right now she was trying to keep her mind from wandering to indecent things. It helped when she remembered that Naru was a complete and utter narcissist. One that would sooner kiss a picture of himself than kiss a girl.

Naru watched the girl's actions thoroughly amused. He knew exactly why she was the way she was. The same thing usually happened when he got in any closer than two feet with any other girl. in fact, he was surprised she hadn't completely melted yet.

Now they took a good look at their surroundings. They seemed to be out of the subway and in an alley.

"I'm gonna guess we're somewhere near Grand Central Station." Mai said when her pulse had calmed.

"Yes, let's head there now." Naru said taking her by the hand and walking her in the direction of the station.

"You really know your stuff don't you?" Mai asked as Naru seemed to know exactly where to go.

"I've always had a photographic memory." Naru replied. "so it's easy to scan a map and apply it to real life."

"Oh."

"By the way. I figured that you would be capable to figure this out on your own but I'll say it anyway. You cannot tell _anyone_ that I'm Oliver Davis. The world thinks he's dead and I want it to stay that way."

"Why?" Mai asked.

"It gives me more freedom to do as I wish without being pestered." Naru replied.

"I see where you're coming from." Mai told him. "don't worry, it's under lock and key." She stopped for a second. Causing Naru to almost pull her off the ground.

"Lock and key…" Mai mused. "Wait a second! I know where to go!"

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><p>i hope you like it cause it's almost 20 msword documents. also i'm always inspired when i get a ton of good reviews, make me write faster. also i need the name of the teacher who got hurt in after school hexer if anyone can remember it rather than make me search for it.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

hey i'm back enjoy the new chapter

disclaimer: nope, still own nothing

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><p>Madoka realized why Lin wanted to meet at the Hamilton as she took a cab there and wondered why she'd not thought of it before.<p>

'Guess that's why I'm better at desk work than out in the field.' She thought as she entered the deli to find Lin already at a table.

"Alright Lin, spill." Madoka huffed as she took her seat. "I want to know what's going on with you."

"Here's some lunch for you." He said handing her a chicken Ceasar wrap. "I remember you liked it from our last lunch together."

"What on earth do you want?" Madoka asked him as she snatched the wrap out of his hand. "You had us meet all the way out here when there's another perfectly good sandwich shop closer to the office. You didn't want to be seen by anyone, didn't you?"

"I'd say you're half right." Lin replied thoughtfully as he took a bite of his own sandwich.

"Yeah? Which part?"

"The part about not wanting to be seen by anyone but the main reason I picked this place was because it's a lot better than the one near the office."

"Now you're just trying to be annoying Lin." Madoka growled through bites of her wrap.

"No, the other part was because I needed the privacy. I really do need a favor from you."

"I know, you told me back at the office." Madoka replied.

"Well, I need you to get me a lift to New York. I'm going after Noll."

"What?" Madoka's jaw dropped. "Lin, you can't."

"Why not?"

"Say this girl really is trouble. You could get Noll killed if you go after him."

"All the more reason to go after him."

Madoka sighed, "I'll see what I can do. But you're going to owe me much more than a casual lunch when all this is over."

"Are you alright?" Ayako asked once Kasai was as bandaged up as the she could manage.

"I've been better." Kasai replied meekly. She reached for a chain around her neck. "Oh no."

"What's the matter?" Ayako asked.

"My barrette is gone." Kasai started sobbing. "I usually keep it in my hair but when I go to bed I hook it on a special chain so I don't lose it. It was a gift from my cousins, it helps me feel safe."

"Sweetheart I'm sorry." Ayako replied sincerely before remembering something. "I don't mean to be rude by brushing the barrette thing aside for the moment, but have you eaten anything?"

Kasai shook her head. "Not since last night. Well, at least I think it was last night. I'm not sure how much time has passed since I last saw Uncle Lin's family."

"Uncle Lin?" Ayako asked.

"Yeah, I was staying in China with some of his relatives while my cousins worked. I went to bed one night and that's all I remember before I woke up and tried escaping." Kasai replied.

"Oh, well how about I get you some food." Ayako told her.

"You can actually do that?" Kasai asked.

"Whoever's behind this needs us in good shape, so they've been keeping me fed and letting me out to go to the bathroom." Ayako replied before walking over to the door and banging on it.

"What do you want?" one of the guards asked cracking the door open.

"I want some food." Ayako said demandingly.

"Fine." The guard grumbled. "Wait right here." The door was shut and bolted once more.

"See what I mean?" Ayako asked.

"Yeah, I mean if they're gonna keep us captive the bright side is we still get fed." Kasai replied. She hadn't been expecting Ayako to start laughing.

"I'm sorry." The woman said between chuckles. "But you are very mature for your age Kasai. You remind me very much of my daughter."

"You have a daughter?" Kasai asked.

"Yes, well, she's not exactly my daughter." Ayako told the girl, "I adopted her when she was five years old after her real parents were murdered. Her parents were very good friends of mine and my husband's. In fact I think the jobs they gave us were how we were introduced. But now Mai's nearly grown. She's twenty years old now."

The door cracked again, and the guard carelessly tossed a couple bags of chips and some water bottles in the room. Kasai watched as Ayako walked over and picked them up.

"So, your daughter Mai. What's she like?" Kasai asked. As the woman brought the food over to her.

"I'd say she's quite the young woman. Even though she can be very dense sometimes. But I suppose when you raise a child with ignorance to protect them they naturally become like that. But now she lives on her own in New York City to finish her studies." Ayako replied.

"That's where my cousins live!" Kasai burst out. "Well, they used to live there. They moved to DC for work."

"Really? And what kind of work do they do?" Ayako asked.

"Cousin Oliver and Cousin Gene work for the FBI." Kasai informed the older woman proudly.

"Yet you live in China?" Ayako asked.

"Yeah well, they wanted to make enough money to get a house I could live with them in. but they didn't want me to be wasting time so they sent me to live with Uncle Lin's parents in China." Kasai explained.

"Ah." Ayako replied and let the information sink in for a moment. Kasai did the same thing.

"Wait, that's why I'm here isn't it?" she asked Ayako. "Because my cousins work for the FBI right?"

"Quite possibly." Ayako answered. She looked at the food. "Here, you should eat." She told the eight year old.

"Okay, you want some?" Kasai asked as she ripped a bag of chips open.

"I'm not hungry right now and you need to eat." Ayako assured her.

"Suit yourself." Kasai said through a muffled mouthful of food.

Ayako watched the girl eat. _'I must protect her,'_ she thought with her motherly instinct kicking in, _'no matter what, I have to make sure she gets out of here alive if not alive and safe.'_

The tracker hadn't moved in quite some time. That told the woman something was wrong. So either the tracker had been discovered and dismantled. Or that her targets really were staying in one place for that long a time. She really doubted the latter, since Kazuya Shibuya was way too smart to do something as stupid as that, especially since he knew there was someone on their tails. And that Mai Taniyama was supposed to be an electronics protégé and could find and dismantle the tracker with ease if she so desired.

The woman had easily led the person at the front desk to believe that she was the relative of Mai and gotten the key to her apartment. Opening the door, she looked around. No one appeared to be there but it was better to be "safe than sorry". She checked the rooms. The first was Mai's room and the woman found Mai's laptop laying innocently her desk.

"Hmm…" the woman mused as she traced a manicured nail over the edge of the machine. "So they abandoned it all together? Well that's alright, it just makes it more fun for me."

Her phone rang, and the woman picked it up.

"Hello?"

"I would just like to warn you Ms. Hara; Mr. Urado is not as patient as a normal person is." A voice told her.

"And what does that have to do with me?" Masako asked.

"He has sent out a tracker of his own." Masako growled. "What bothers me the most is that the tracker, in actuality, works for me." Usbusuna spat.

"I don't like others getting in my way." Masako replied. "I will take him out if the need arises."

"There's no complaint there." Ubusuna informed her. "Just make sure Taniyama is brought in relatively unharmed."

"A great annoyance, but I shall comply. Is there anything else?" she asked.

"Just remember to have fun with the game." Ubusuna replied before hanging up.

Masako smirked smugly, "oh believe me, I will."

"Come on Naru!" Mai said dragging him along.

"You seem pretty confident in where to go." Naru commented as he let her drag him along.

"I know for a fact that I'm right." Mai replied and didn't comment when Naru experimentally squeezed her hand to see her reaction. "The first set of numbers is the number of a locker and the second set is the combination."

"I thought most lockers here have a key you have to pay for to use." Naru told her. She stopped short and pouted.

"No, I was sure there were lockers with combinations here." She whined in despair.

"Well you could be right." Naru said to soothe her.

"Yeah, and money _could_ fall from the sky but it's not gonna." Mai retorted.

"_She got you there Noll."_ Gene informed him.

"_Is there ever a time where you could use your abilities as a ghost to help us rather than harass me?"_ Naru asked in response.

"_There is, but that would be cheating."_ Gene replied. _"Besides, I think that girl has psychic abilities, otherwise I would have been able to locate Kasai already even if there was a psychic barrier that kept you from doing it. So, sorry idiot scientist, you need to figure this out on your own."_

Naru decided to stow the information about Mai's psychic abilities for later. He turned to her.

"Well, at the very least we're on the right train of thought," Naru told her. "The address was for Grand Central Station and here we are. Now we just need to figure out what the numbers mean."

"Under the numbers it said 'leave it', what do you think that means?" Mai asked him.

"I think that it means we should leave it." Naru replied sarcastically.

"Thank you captain obvious." Mai said repressing the urge to smack him. "But where are we supposed to leave it?"

"Well I did say you could be right about the locker idea." Naru told her. "So let's check and see if we can find any that fit the description."

It took them less than five minutes to realize that Naru had been right about the whole key thing.

"Now what?" Mai asked when they met back up at the end of the first row.

"Let's stop and actually use our brains for a moment Mai." Naru said before noticing that Mai wasn't paying any attention to him, much to his displeasure, and was watching some station attendants instead.

"so I take it you've seen something you like?" Naru asked irritably tapping Mai on the shoulder. She looked at him with pure excitement in her eyes.

"I know where there are lockers with combinations!" she practically squealed.

"Oh, nice to know you were thinking rather than staring at a bunch of cute boys." Naru replied; his voice laced with sarcasm.

Mai stopped walking forward when she heard that. "You thought they were cute? Didn't think you were that type of guy Naru."

"I'm not." Naru told her.

"Sure you're not." Mai replied sarcastically.

"Would you like me to prove it to you?" Naru asked her.

"Hmm, enticing offer. But we'll have to save it for another time. We have more important matters to deal with than the subject of cute boys."

"So you admit you thought they were cute."

Mai rolled her eyes. "Off topic." She reminded.

"Really? And you think they're cuter than someone like me?"

"Now we're way off topic you egotistical narcissist." Mai told him dryly as she tugged him along. "Come on. I remember that a few years back I was dating a guy who worked here part time. He had a locker in the back with a combination lock."

"You dated someone who worked _here_" Naru asked as he followed her.

"He was one of the boys at my college." Mai snapped as her face turned red. "But this isn't the time to be discussing my previous relationships."

"Very well." Naru replied.

In fact though he was very agitated with Mai, though not for anything she'd done. It seemed as though once he figured her out on some sort of level she'd do something that would confuse him even more than previously. No woman was ever able to hold his interest for more than a few minutes. And normally all it would take was him responding to them for them to become puddle of flesh. Now, he could admit that Mai wasn't exactly focusing on him because she was worried about her parents, but he was expecting maybe a bit more from her. But then again, Mai was so stubborn that Naru doubted she'd admit she liked him even if it was the truth.

"Naru? You okay in there?" Mai asked noticing he'd stopped moving his feet.

"Hm? I'm fine Mai." He replied. "Now, where are the lockers you mentioned?"

Mai pointed ahead of her to a door marked 'workers only'.

"How do we get in…?" Mai mused.

"Simple, we walk in." Naru answered before grabbing Mai's wrist and dragging her through the door.

"Naru! You can't just waltz in here like you own the place!" Mai scolded him. Then she looked around. "So, much for high class security." Mai retorted.

"I don't think they need it for a locker room Mai." Naru told her.

Mai didn't respond, she just walked to a locker and checked the number on it. She moved to the right and checked the number on that one.

"This way." She said leading the way.

The two walked down one isle before stopping at the locker they were looking for.

"What's the combination?" Naru asked. Mai read it off to him and he spun the dial to match.

The locker itself was empty. But just to be safe Mai ran her hand up the sides to check for hidden wires.

"Now what?" Mai asked when the hitogata was inside and the locker shut and locked with a definite 'thunk'.

"Check the site." Was Naru's reply. However, before they could get the chance to, they heard a voice.

Naru grabbed Mai once more and moved them back further into the room. They hit a back wall and Naru was scanning the space when he saw a small opening. Without so much as a warning to Mai, he pushed her in it and quickly followed. The space just barely had enough room for one person so there wasn't any room for personal space between Mai and Naru, though being a head shorter than Naru was certainly coming in handy now since she was tucked under his chin. Mai had turned her head to look at Naru as he pushed her in the hiding space so her face was buried into his right shoulder. Her hands had been raised to they were now against the abdominal region that she'd only seen rather than felt.

Naru had been quick enough so his hands were not anywhere that would not only get him slapped but give away their position from said slap. He tried to focus on the person he'd heard rather than the girl locked to him. Naru felt something start and wondered why his hormones picked _now_ to finally kick in.

"Stay silent." Naru whispered as he tried to fight the male hormones that were trying to control his body and make him pin Mai even tighter against the wall. Mai nodded in response and Naru could hear Gene laughing. Though Naru wondered how his brother could find the situation at hand so hilarious.

"Ugghh…" they heard the voice come closer now. "Where are they? The clue should have led them here."

"Naru?" Mai whispered. "Who is that? Its' the same voice we heard in the tunnels."

"A man by the name of Yoshino." Naru whispered back. "He was a student advisor at the high school where the students were being cursed. He was cursed too and the accident it got him in caused him to go off the deep end. When the teacher responsible for all this got fired, he quit and went to work for her."

"Her?" Mai whispered. Naru stayed silent and a moment later Mai figured out why. Yoshino was _very_ close to their hiding spot.

'_Oh no.'_ Mai thought as she shut her eyes tight. _'Please don't let him find us please don't let him find us…'_ (Insert flash where everything is discolored in blue, black, and purple, I'm not really sure what it's called.)

Almost as soon as they had come the footsteps echoed in the room as Yoshino walked away.

When the footsteps were no longer Naru quickly left the space to try and calm the emotions that had built up. Mai left shortly after and looked around.

"Let's leave before we try and find the next clue." Naru advised. Mai nodded numbly and followed him out.

Naru looked around and saw a man coming straight toward them with a deranged look in his eye.

"Mai run!" Naru shouted as he grabbed her upper arm and took off. Mai didn't hesitate to listen to him this time. Ignoring yells and shouts they vaulted the turnstiles and just made it through the doors of a train ready to leave the station.

"Thank god." Mai breathed when they sat down side-by-side. "I thought for sure he'd seen us when we were hiding."

"Curious though." Naru said in response. "He was right in front of the hiding spot he was looking right at us Mai, but he didn't see us."

"How do you know that?" Mai asked him.

"Besides actually having my eyes open and not buried into someone else's shoulder." Naru began. "I saw him, but I stayed silent and he walked right past us. I wonder, did you say or think anything when you heard him approaching us?"

"I was just, well I guess you could call it praying, that we wouldn't find us." Mai replied. "But what does that have to do with him not actually finding us?"

"I'm not completely sure since we don't have the time nor the proper equipment to test it, but I believe you may have latent sensitivity. Really just a natural sense of self-preservation, but yours seems stronger than most." Naru explained.

"Oh," Mai paused for a moment and stared out the window of the other side of the train. "Well I better check and see if we have another clue."

"Maybe it would be best to wait until we're somewhere where there's a little more commotion so we can talk at a normal level." Naru suggested as the train was coming to a stop.

Mai nodded. "Okay." The two exited the train and made their way to a little restaurant where they found a table in the back.

Mai's stomach growled fiercely and Mai blushed. Naru quirked a brow. "Hungry are we?"

"More than I usually am by now." Mai admitted rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. She quickly scanned the menu before pulling out her PDA and brought up the site. "Hey Naru, look."

The screen with its ominous clock still sat in the middle, but now all the links used thus far were lined up neatly on the left under the heading; "clues and instructions". On the right side of the clock was another list labeled "warnings" with one box neatly x-ed out in red ink.

"I'm going to copy the clue. Order for me okay." Mai asked him.

"Alright." Naru replied telling the waitress to bring two waters, a medium cheese pizza, and some breadsticks for an appetizer.

"So what does the clue say?" Naru asked when he was finished. Mai slid the notebook over to him and he started reading.

_Where blood runs still by the light of day_

_Is at night a favorite place to play_

_Blue collars mix with blue blood here_

_In a palace that one would hold so dear_

_Though the person is not an heir_

_And though royalty does not reside there_

_Start by browsing under her name_

_It's the only place where you'll find fame_

"It's so long," Mai groaned. "My head hurts."

"You're exhausted from only having read it?" Naru asked as the waitress brought them their meal. "I must say I'm not surprised but I honestly didn't think your brain cells hadn't been used for _that_ long." He commented.

"Shut up." Mai spat as she ripped a piece free from its cheesy bindings. "It's just; these things seem to be getting harder and harder."

"I agree," Naru said taking a bite of his own slice before adding. "But realize that whoever's behind this, though it's probably that teacher I got arrested for hexing her own students, wants us to fail. They just didn't want us to do so early. They want us to believe up to the last second, that there could be a way we can save our families, that way when they yank the rug out from under our feet it'll be that much more soul crushing. But for now, we should forget about the clues and the game and try and calm down."

"Wow. Never thought I'd hear that coming from you." Mai commented.

"What do you mean by that?" Naru asked.

Mai shrugged. "You just seem like a workaholic to me. So to hear you wanting to stop focusing on the task at hand seems very out of the ordinary."

"This little break has absolutely everything to do with the task at hand." Naru replied. "With our pulse rate back to normal and food in our stomachs we'll be able to think about the clues more clearly and concisely."

"Right…" Mai rolled her eyes. "But we have some idea that this whole thing has to do with that crazy teacher you got fired. But what does that have to do with my parents? Does the organization need money?"

"No, ever since she'd been fired and came to the U.S to start up a company of her own she's been an avid worker; money was never an issue for her company. But they might need technology, does Taniyama electronics have anything big in progress?"

Mai considered the thought for a moment, chewing her lip as she did so. "I suppose so. But most of the company's works is in the gaming industry. Even if that teacher's company is based in japan (it is just because I say so) it doesn't make sense to want anything to do with a video game company. I mean I haven't been involved with the company since I left japan but my parents have sent me news about the latest products. Anything big enough to warrant a kidnapping would have stuck out."

"True, but to stay as successful a business as they are they have to be on the cutting edge of technology." Naru replied. "Isn't it true that they have people working for them that NASA would love to have working for them? The point is that they could have their fingers dipped in other areas."

"I really doubt it, but that doesn't mean it's not a possibility." Mai replied. "But then again you could say the same thing about companies like Microsoft. So why go to the trouble of seeking out a Japanese tycoon when there are more than enough here in the U.S if you have to?"

"You're right about that, which makes me believe this may be personal." Naru told her. He saw her flinch. However, before he could overanalyze her reaction to his words his phone beeped.

"What's that?" Mai asked.

"It appears my phone is full of messages." Naru answered. "Most are from Lin and John as well as my parents."

"Who's Lin?" Mai asked him.

"Lin is my bodyguard he's supposed to make sure I don't kill myself by using my abilities. John was the pastor you met this morning when you found me. But I was absolutely sure I had mentioned Lin earlier."

"Nope." Mai shook her head. "But it's impressive how fast you answering machine filled up." Mai looked down at the clue and tried to think it out but her mind kept going back to who might have it in for her and her parents.

"Mai." Naru broke her out of her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Naru, my mind's just somewhere else. I mean this makes no sense at all. What are we doing? Just running around New York and leaving things that look like cursing dolls. It feels like we're just being led in circles. What's the point of going through all this?"

"That is an excellent question." Naru replied. "One that we will get answers to as soon as you're done eating."

"What?" Mai looked down to notice that Naru had already finished his lunch and was waiting for Mai to do the same. "Oh. I'll finish it later, we should go now."

"No Mai." Naru told her. "You need to eat or else you'll be completely useless for the rest of the day. Especially since we don't know when we'll be able to stop and eat again."

"Fine." Mai huffed and started eating again. "But how are we supposed to find answers?"

"I know someone who may be of help to us."

"Alright. Tell me about this friend of yours." Mai ordered.

"He's not exactly what you call a friend." Naru replied. "I believe you've probably heard of him without knowing his name."

"Really? How so?" Mai asked as she finished the last piece of pizza.

"Did you ever hear about those unexplained phenomena out in the Midwest? I believe it was crop circles that had been made as well as weird symbols that were appearing out of nowhere."

"Seriously? That was him?" Mai asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

"But I was told it was just a couple of pranksters playing jokes to make people believe in aliens."

"That was just a cover up story to keep him out of trouble." Naru replied.

"But everyone thought it was aliens and was freaking out for like a month. To think it was human error." Mai said.

"It wasn't human error, just Sakauchi trying to contact someone." Naru replied.

"What do you mean? If it was one person who did it on purpose why isn't he rotting in a jail cell right now?"

"Sakauchi is the son of a very influential political figure," Naru explained. "Luckily for him, the right people figured out who was responsible for it and were able to eliminate any evidence pointing to him."

"And he didn't get punished at all?" Mai asked finding it hard to believe that everything Naru was saying was true.

"Don't worry, he did." Naru assured her. "You see Sakauchi's a very smart person in the sense that he knows what he wants and what strings to pull to get it, the only problem is his love for the occult is so great he'll do anything to get in contact with a spirit. And he'll take the idea that he gets and run with it until someone knocks him down and drags him back to reality. He doesn't have as much common sense as a normal person so FBI offered him a job to keep occupied and out of trouble. He didn't say yes in person, but his father assured us it was all right with him."

"so Sakauchi works for the government?" Mai asked.

"Not officially but yes, though it's only what you might call a part-time job." Naru replied. "All Sakauchi really wants is to be a paranormal investigator."

Mai laughed. "You're kidding right?" Naru shook his head no. "Okay then, is he a threat?"

"No, he's too much of an idiot to be a threat." Naru replied. "However, if he ever put all his affairs in order he could cause mass hysteria. That's why the government tries to keep him on a tight leash."

"Tries?"

"He's very good at covering his tracks." Naru explained.

"But you can find him?"

"Clairvoyant abilities Mai." Naru reminded.

"Alright, but he can help us how exactly?"

"He's very good with analyzing things; he might be able to tell us something we missed."

"But isn't it against the rules to have outside help?" Mai questioned.

"True, but if there are too many players in the game then that's against the rules as well." Naru replied.

"Alright then." Mai said.

"I'm going to try contacting him. He hasn't responded to the earlier message I sent." Naru told her.

"He's the one you sent the picture to?"

"Yes."

"Okay then." Mai replied. "You go do that and I'll try and figure out the clue."

Naru pulled out his phone and dialed.

Urado let out a sigh loaded with disinterest. Most of the screens he stared at were either inactive or empty of any relevant activity. Ubusuna had left, claiming that staring at something for too long gave her a headache. In truth he was starting to get a headache watching the monitors incessantly as well, but he had a sick fascination with one in particular. Ayako Takigawa, wife of the man who could handle anything but her, was sitting completely helpless under his control. It would only make taking back what was supposed to have been his easier.

'If only I could have gotten rid of her from the start.' He mused thinking of Ubusuna. Life would be so much easier if she'd gotten killed in a little car "accident" he'd arranged months ago. Then he's have full control of everything and her crazy plans for revenge wouldn't have even come into play. True, he was out for vengeance as well but he had a particular reason. The "utterly perfect" murder of the Taniyamas had been interrupted so everything Urado had been born and bred for had been ripped right out from under him. This game was to ensure he got it all back.

And Mai Taniyama would not only be the key to that, but possibly the utter destruction of the world Urado believed to be "utterly useless."

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><p>as always review and let me know aht you think<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

gomen this took so long! but on the upside my spring break started so i should be able to update faster yayness!

disclaimer: i don't own anything other than coming up with the idea to use the plotline for this anime

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><p>'<em>Risky. Very very risky.'<em> Mai thought as she bit the end of the pen cap in her mouth. She was currently fiddling with ideas on a piece of notepad paper. Due to being annoyingly ordered to hand over her personal notebook she was using the one the hotel provided with the room. She'd been a bit reluctant to hand over the personal notebook because it was something private but there was nothing really to worry about because it was a fresh one; completely clean of all the notes and doodles she'd been known to create in the margins. That and she knew that if she didn't hand it over Naru would try to take it out of her hands and since Mai knew she was a klutz sometimes she'd end up putting them in a very awkward and compromising situation.

Currently, Naru was reviewing the notes she'd made on the last clue while he'd been outside on the phone. When he'd come back inside he'd been very insistent on going somewhere they could think privately, so they rented another hotel room. It was far less decorated then the previous room they'd gotten, but Naru thought it would be in the best interest not to play the Taniyama card again unless it was absolutely necessary. Instead they paid in cash, much to the wariness and surprise of the clerk and had been able to manage an early check-in.

'_Very risky'_ Mai's thoughts repeated as she glanced over at Naru. His position on the bed wasn't lolling, but it wasn't as though he was sitting stark upright against the headboard either. Initially, Naru had sat over to the side so Mai could share thoughts with him, but Mai just couldn't bring herself to be near him at the moment without worrying that she'd become beet red for one reason or another. Mai had excused herself to the bathroom and had gone to the desk right after coming out. Naru had merely glanced up but didn't comment.

"Any ideas yet?" Mai asked while turning to face the wall. Naru looked at her for a moment.

"None that seem very probable at the moment." Was his reply. His eyes fell back to the notebook and Mai had to fight down a blush as he shifted to make himself more comfortable. Mai knew you'd either have to be blind, blinded by love, or just plain idiotic not to notice that Naru was handsome. Mai also knew that every other woman they came across thought the exact same thing. But was it really necessary for the clerk to mention so while he was within hearing range? His ego was already the size of a mountain; did it really need to be fed anymore? Thankfully Naru didn't mention anything if he heard the comment. Mai was relieved at the fact but now her thoughts were completely crowded with the sudden addition thrust into her life that was Kazuya Shibuya/Oliver Davis/Naru.

Before when Naru had made those narcissistic comments about being attractive she'd brushed them off without batting an eye. But ever since someone other than Naru himself had said that he was handsome out loud Mai was completely consumed with the fact that she was _alone_ in the company of a very attractive man and that it was getting to her. Naru would have been so pleased if he only knew what was going on in her head at the moment. Mai was usually never the type that lost her nerves around a guy she liked or that she thought was cute, well that was until now.

And now? Now she couldn't even do so much as look at him without blushing and it was starting to get on her nerves.

"Mai, is something wrong?" Naru asked breaking her out of her musing.

"What? Oh yeah everything's fine, why do you ask?" Mai replied once she registered he was talking to her.

"You have been staring blankly at the wall for the past five minutes." Naru informed her.

"I'm fine, just a little frustrated that we haven't figured out the clue yet." Mai answered. Then she realized something. "Wait a minute. You've been watching me for the past five minutes?" she asked looking over at him.

Thank god Naru was now so adept at keeping his mask in place no one could tell any of his emotions. Otherwise he would've been blushing like a fool. It wasn't just like he could tell her that he thought her pensive face was cute and was only watching to see it. She'd tease him to no end if she found that out.

"I looked up about five minutes ago to see you staring at the wall before resuming my thought process. When I looked up again you were in the exact same position, indicating you hadn't moved at all." Naru managed to reply coolly.

"oh." Mai mumbled in response.

Naru looked over at her as she now shifted to look down at her notepad. If he hadn't been mistaken earlier the one in her voice when she answered him was; disappointment? He wondered what was wrong with her. Was she just worried over her family? Concerned by the fact that the clues they were getting seemed endless and unsolvable? Wait, that had to be it. Silently Naru slid off the bed and walked up behind Mai. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder; Mai nearly jumped five feet in response.

"Sorry, you just scared me, that's all." Mai told him turning around.

"The action was intended to reassure you, not make you worry even more." Naru replied. He placed the hand that had been retracted when she jumped back on her shoulder, Mai's eyes watching as it did so. Then they moved back to his face. "We'll figure this out Mai." He told her giving the shoulder a small squeeze. Mai shut her eyes and shivered a little at the action.

Naru noticed this and placed another hand on her other shoulder. Then the first caught her chin and forced Mai to look at him. Their eyes locked, and Mai found herself unable to breath. If she'd been paying attention she would have noticed Naru going through something similar. Mai realized that this was probably her turn to make some sort of a move, she had no idea of what to do but she knew she wanted to do something very badly. Then an image of her parents flashed and Mai forced herself to break the contact.

"I'm sorry." She told him unable to explain what she was sorry for. She felt only heavy guilt in her heart that she was having semi-inappropriate thoughts about Naru when her family was in danger.

"There is nothing to apologize for." Naru replied. He himself was at a loss as to what possessed him to do that.

"_Not trying to interrupt or anything…"_ Gene started.

"_But you're going to anyway."_ Naru finished.

"_Alright idiot scientist, have it your way but don't you think you should apologize to her?"_ Gene replied.

"_What for?"_ Naru asked.

"_Hmm, let's see… oh yeah, you were pulling a fast one."_ Gene informed him.

"_That wasn't me."_ Naru argued.

"_Then who was it Noll?"_ Gene asked. _"Because I saw you, not anybody else, you; getting ready for something. But I'm not sure of what."_

"_It must have been the hormones."_ Naru replied.

"_Sure it was."_ Gene replied. Naru could practically see his brother rolling his eyes.

"_Besides, Mai already has a boyfriend."_ Naru informed his brother somewhat bitterly. He'd never met Yasu, but he already didn't like him.

A knock at the door spurred Naru and Mai out of their awkward silence and Naru out of his internal debate with his brother. Naru looked at Mai and saw her cinnamon brown eyes start to fill with fear. He felt this protective urge in him flare and, taking one of his throwing knives out of his coat pocket, strode to the door with light footsteps.

"Can we help you?" Naru asked, keeping a small distance from the thin wooden cover.

"Room service." Replied an overly perky and polite male voice that could never belong to Yoshino.

"I'm sorry, but we didn't order anything." Naru told the man on the other side of the door.

"Are you sure?" the man asked. "I had an order for a rare steak, mashed potatoes, and a Cesar salad."

"We didn't order anything." Naru repeated.

There was a moment of silence.

"Then I must be on the wrong floor, sorry to disturb you." The hotel employee said before walking away.

"I can't believe some people actually eat like that." Mai commented after the lackey was gone.

"Like what?" Naru asked. "You mean you can't believe that some people prefer their meat practically alive?"

"I used to think it was just beef juice." Mai said giving a shudder. "I just about flipped my lid when my dad told me it was…" she trailed off as realization came over her features. "blood." She finished looking over at Naru. He nodded as he realized the answer to the clue.

"We're looking for the meat packing district." He said the answer aloud.

Mai gave a smile and kissed Naru on the cheek before he could realize what was going on.

"Thank you for everything so far," she told him. "If I didn't know any better though, I'd say you were starting to care about me."

"yes well." Naru replied detachedly, though not because it was his mask. It was because something in him snapped when Mai kissed him on the cheek and his mind was sent reeling. "Do you know where in the meat packing district we're supposed to go?"

"Good question," Mai said grabbing her bag and sitting on the sole bed in the room. She looked at the clue written in the notebook and the map of the area she'd pulled up on her PDA. "Maybe…" she thought aloud, and then bit her lip in thought. She looked up to where she last saw Naru standing only to find empty space. Turning her head to the side revealed Naru sitting right beside her, and Mai nearly jumped from realization. How on earth was he able to sit beside her without making the bed shift? More importantly what was with the two centimeters of elbow room? Naru gave a condescending look as though sensing the things she wanted to ask. Oh how she wanted to hit him right now.

"You were saying." Naru prompted.

"Hn? Oh right." Mai replied. "Like I was saying before; I think that the first three lines refer to the general area."

"So the last three lines are more specific." Naru ventured.

"_And though royalty does not reside there_." Mai read off. "_Start by browsing under her name. It's the only place where you'll find Fame_."

"Odd. The word fame is capitalized; I think that means we're looking for something called fame." Naru observed.

"I guess you know what this means." Mai told him.

Naru almost grimaced. "Shopping. Do you know of any stores named fame?"

"How would I?" Mai asked him as she got up off the bed.

"Past study of girl's likes and dislikes. Shopping is very high up on the likes list." Naru remarked.

"And because of that you make the assumption that I like shopping?" Mai asked.

"Yes."

"Very bad assumption, but I do like to shop occasionally." Mai replied. She could practically see Naru's smug smirk. "I know on the inside you're smirking because you think you've won. Knock it off, because I have no idea if there's a store called fame there." She told him.

"Well there are more than just stores in the district." Naru said getting up as well. "Maybe one of the nightclubs is called fame."

"I doubt it but I won't say you're wrong because I don't go down there often. It's too expensive."

"Well, you're completely sure that the next clue is in the meatpacking district?" Naru asked. Mai nodded. "Then we'll only find it for certain if we go down there."

A perk of living in such a big metropolitan city such as D.C was that people didn't mind helicopters flying around in the middle of the day. It was only when a chopper or plane didn't arrive on time without notice that people freaked out. Be that as it may it was also nice to have a friend who could pull strings at a local transportation department so you could have a ride anywhere at any time.

"Do you know how much you will owe me when all this is over?" Madoka asked for about the fifteenth time that day.

"I'm sure I have a pretty good idea." Lin told her.

"I'm serious Lin; you might as well just sign the rights to your first born child over to me. And that won't even be the beginning of my payment for this." Madoka replied.

"How about I buy you a diamond ring instead?" Lin asked.

Madoka went from mid-rant to red as a tomato. "Why…you! Just get ready to speak with my friend okay."

"Alright." Lin replied as they made their way to a small metropolitan airspace. A man at the front door of one of the hangers caught sight of them and started running.

"Madoka!" he cried.

"Willy!" Madoka called back as he wrapped her up in a big hug. When he let go, Madoka gestured to Lin. "willy, this is my good friend Lin. Lin; this is one of my best friends William."

"Nice to meet you." William replied to Lin. "you can just call me Willy though, everyone does."

He led them in from the earlier drizzle that was now growing heavier.

"So." Willy said as sat down behind his desk. "Madoka said you wanted to talk about something on the phone. Is there anything I can do for you?" Lin opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a phone ringing. Willy looked at them. "Excuse me for a moment." He said getting up and walking out of the room.

"Well, he's certainly" Lin paused trying to find the right word. "Interesting?"

Madoka smacked him. "Be nice." She hissed as Willy came back into the room.

"Sorry about that." Willy said apologetically. "So what can I do you for?"

"Lin needs a ride to new York city." Madoka replied quickly.

"No problem." Willy said cheerfully. "When did you want to go up?"

"Within the hour if possible." Lin replied.

Willy stopped taking out the flight book and pen. "You're kidding, right?"

"No." Lin said shortly. "But I wouldn't ask if there wasn't a problem."

"What's wrong?" Willy asked.

"A friend is in trouble." Lin replied vaguely. "More than I think he realizes."

Willy studied the two for a moment. "I do hope you realize that I can't send a chopper out at will right? There has to be a set schedule because if you're in unauthorized airspace you're gonna get some serious trouble."

"I understand completely." Lin answered.

Willy gave a pensive look. "Okay, I'm going to make some calls and see what I can do for you guys. But no guarantees alright?"

Madoka beamed. "Willy, thank you so much!"

Willy waved it off. "You guys should get back to work. I'll call you if I can arrange something."

"Thanks again Willy." Madoka said as she and Lin exited the room.

"No problem." He waited until their footsteps faded to pick up the phone and dial a memorized number. "Kojou's on the move." Was all he said before a click and static told him the other person had disconnected.

Mai sighed, they had opted to take the subway to get to the meat packing district but it seemed like it was taking forever, especially since as the seconds ticked they took the chances of being able to rescue Kasai and her parents with them.

"Don't look now, but you seem to have acquired an admirer Mai." Naru whispered to her.

Mai looked up to see and older gentlemen sitting across from them staring at Mai like she was a piece of meat he was going to buy and devour. She fought down the urge to scowl at both the man and Naru. "Just focus." She hissed.

"I am." Naru replied putting an arm around her shoulder and bringing her closer. He couldn't explain why, but he felt this bigger surge of bitter rage towards the man across from him than he did with Yasu. Probably because of the way the man was looking at _his_ Mai.

Wait a minute, his Mai? Where did that come from. At any rate, he probably still would have been mad even if it wasn't Mai that the man was staring at. Naru might not have liked all women he came in contact with, but he had enough class not to eye them up like a lecherous pervert.

Thankfully Mai shifted to rest more comfortably against him and that kept the pervert's wandering eyes away from them.

"Any ideas yet?" Naru asked.

"No, I keep thinking of the shops I know and nothing seems to fit the bill." Mai replied.

"Just calm down, it will come to us in time." Naru told her.

"I know, I have faith in you." Mai informed him.

"I have complete faith in my ability to get through this. The person I'm slightly more worried about is you." He replied.

"Nice to know you have faith in me too." Mai retorted. "But why are you worried about me?"

"I might not know every minute detail about you Mai, but you are an open book."

"How so?"

"Well when something bothers you; the first thing you do is pout, then you worry, but you usually bounce back pretty quickly."

"R-really? It's that easy to see?" Mai squeaked turning red.

"Yes, but it could be considered cute to anyone else." Naru replied.

"And just what is it to you then?" Mai asked.

"Annoying." Naru answered bluntly. "But necessary to know that you are still functioning normally."

"hmph." Mai grunted. "Well it's not like there's anything wrong with this but you seem to be neutral no matter what kind of situation you're in."

"Part of the job as a field agent is to school your features so you don't let people know you're afraid. If they know that then they have the upper hand."

"I'm not trying to pry but it feels like you're speaking from past experience." Mai told him.

"Once being a child, the imagination often gets the better of you. Being afraid of a monster you create means it's more likely to manifest itself somewhere in your life." Naru replied.

"But it happens, and after all; if we didn't we wouldn't be human." Mai bantered.

"How do you think so?" Naru asked her.

"I might not remember everything from all my college classes, but the one thing that always stuck out to me was the fact that the only thing that sets us apart from animals is our ability to think and rationalize." Mai answered. "More importantly, you chose not to show fear so it doesn't get the better of you."

"And now you're making it sound so simple." Naru informed her.

"The English major in me." Mai replied. "I was always taught that at the root of absolutely everything was some form of basic human nature. Yours being the classic but not famous struggle between fearful emotion and heartless courage."

"Can you hear yourself Mai?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth." Mai replied flatly.

"I didn't think it sounded crazy, I was just surprised you had actually used your brain." Naru responded as the train slowed to a stop. "Here we are."

The two got out and Naru grabbed Mai's wrist as they headed to the exit. Mai wrote it off as Naru assuring she didn't get separated from him and broke the grip once they hit the street. She ignored the slight eye-widening from Naru. Before leaving the hotel Mai resolved that she wouldn't let the fact Naru made butterflies appear in her stomach dominate her thoughts. Her parents were most important right now and she needed to focus completely on that.

"Come on Naru, this way." Mai told him pointing in the direction where she knew quite a few high end stores resided.

Naru followed shoving his hands into his pockets. While Mai looked around at the shops he kept an eye out for Yoshino or the unknown assassin that had attacked them earlier. As Mai window-shopped she often saw something she really liked. After the third time she sighed about wishing she could afford one of the objects she coveted Naru was close to scoffing.

"Mai, I didn't think your brain cells were so damaged that you forgot the fact that you're one of the wealthiest people under the age of twenty-five. If you had the mind to you could probably buy most of these stores." Naru told her.

"Mai Taniyama could. Unfortunately, Mai Matsuzaki is on a strict budget. Besides, Yasu would get suspicious if I came home with stuff from these types of stores."

"Why not hide them then?"

"Why buy clothes if you're never going to wear them?" Mai asked in response.

"I might be a genius when it comes to the paranormal, but one mystery I don't think the world will ever solve is the mystery of girl's affection for their clothes."

"Yeah I know." Mai looked through a window and let out a heavy sigh. "I love this store."

"Do I dare ask why?"

Mai shrugged. "No real reason at all. I just think Alexandria Kingsleigh has really great taste." She stopped short and looked over at Naru. Then grabbed his arm and dragged him through the doors. "I can't believe I didn't think of it before, I have a daily update alert on her latest fashion designs."

"Kingsleigh, it's a perfect fit." Naru muttered under his breath. "We need to find something in here called fame. Do you know of it?"

"Nothing in mind yet, but look around; they might have something on one of the racks." Mai replied. "I'm going to ask at the front desk."

Sitting behind the desk was an immaculately dressed saleswoman probably close to twice Mai's own age. She gave the pair a flawlessly trained smile. "Welcome, what can I do for you?"

"We were looking for a product called fame." Mai told her.

"Fame… oh! You must mean the special package." The woman went to the back for a moment and returned with a carefully wrapped box. "Of course I'll need some identification." She told them placing the box beneath the counter.

"Oh, what name is it under?" Mai asked.

"Excuse me?" the woman asked with her politeness becoming less believable.

"Well, um I, I was divorced recently and I just-"

"I highly doubt it's under _your_ name." the woman cut Mai off. She glanced at Naru quickly before resuming focus on Mai. That was what made Mai think it was under a man's name.

"Could it be under your ex's name darling?" Naru asked.

"I really doubt that sweetheart." Mai replied throwing in her own term of endearment as payback.

"Well, I suppose it is a problem since I wasn't completely sure if you were giving out his name or mine as your significant other at the time." He explained. Then he turned to the clerk and gave a polite smile that Mai instantly recognized as fake. "Matters such as these are so complicated now-a-days aren't they?" he lamented. "Who's with whom and who broke up with whom and such." He leaned slightly closer. "Do you remember who placed the order?"

"Aah, let me check. Just a moment please." The woman said going from perky clerk to love-sick teen in a matter of mere seconds. As she check the computer and Mai silently admitted that Naru was a real woman charmer. Precisely one second after this she vowed not to let him do it to her. "Oh, I'm sorry but it doesn't say." The woman told them.

"What I'm going to assume happened was that my dear little fiancée ordered this package quite a while back and can't seem to remember what name she placed it under. Since divorces are such messy affairs so I believe she reserved under my name so he ex-husband wouldn't know she was still using his money." Naru rationalized.

The woman sobered under the admission that the two were "together". "And your name would be?"

"Kazuya Shibuya." Naru replied.

"ID please." The clerk said as the polite intonation returned. Naru handed her an ID that gave the alias he was now working under since 'Oliver Davis' had been killed.

"Very good Mr. Shibuya." The clerk said returning the Id and handing the package along with it. "Have a good day and thank you for shopping here at Alexandria Kingsleigh's ."

Naru gave another politely fake smile, said his thanks, and steered Mai out of the shop. Only when they hit the pavement did Mai let out the breath she'd been holding.

"I'm very pleased with the choice of names they picked." Naru said.

"Why?"

"It was the name that I used when I dealt with that case in Japan. I don't really like publicity if you haven't noticed yet." Naru paused for a moment. "Also, if that had been the wrong name I think the clerk wouldn't have handed over the package so easily."

"Good thing you're quick on your feet like that." Mai commented. "Though I do think we're rushing things a bit."

"What do you mean by that?"

"At six o 'clock this morning we didn't even know of each other's existence, by nine we were boyfriend and girlfriend, and now we're engaged to be married. I think for right now we should just stick with being friends right now." Mai said snickering at the end.

"Very funny Mai."

"If I'm not funny then what good am-" she froze before uttering the last word. Swiftly and silently she latched onto Naru's arm and pulled him back in the store.

"What's wrong Mai?" Naru asked in a low voice.

"It's that girl from before." Mai practically hissed through her teeth.

"The woman from the park?"

"Yes." Mai replied not bothering to get mad at the correction he made.

"Is there anything wrong?" the woman from before asked.

"Pardon me for asking but do you happen to have a rear exit?" Naru asked as he pulled Mai close to him and kept and arm around her.

"Yes we do for fire hazards and protocol like that but it's for employees only." The woman replied.

"It would be much appreciated if we could use it." Naru told her. "I happen to have a very possessive and jealous ex-girlfriend who's just outside the store. My fiancée has been threatened by her before so we had to get a restraining order against her. Right now I believe it would be a clear violation of the document."

The woman quietly gasped as she took into account Mai's frightened face and the paleness of her already white skin. "Oh my. Do you want me to call the police?"

Naru shook his head. "It would be better for us and the establishment if we just left as quickly and inconspicuously as possible."

"well I'm not entirely sure I can do that…" the woman trailed.

"if you would like, feel free to open an account under my name. I can assure you we'll come back often and give you enough commission to pay for this little favor." Naru was ready to say just about anything to keep that right-wing nut job from catching them.

The woman was impressed and quickly led them to a door marked 'employees only'. It led to an alley way.

"Thank you so much for that." Mai said jogging to keep up with Naru's strides. He stopped short, grabbed her wrist and didn't let go until they were a good distance away from the store. "I'm going to need a _big_ pot of tea after all we've gone through today." Naru put his hand to his mouth to hide the small smile, he'd been expecting her to name an expensive brand of alcohol or something, but not that.

"I do believe you're right. A little rest will settle our nerves a bit and there's a small café right over there." He told her once more taking her wrist and walking briskly.

Upon entering he let go and went to stand in line.

"Would you like something?" he asked her.

Mai shook her head. "Just water please." She said taking a seat at a table near the back and pulling out her PDA. She'd pulled up the site when Naru returned, two hot drinks in hand.

"Anything yet?" Naru asked before taking a sip of his drink.

"A new link." Mai answered flashing him the screen. "An address and what appear to be numbers in a nonsensical order."

Naru took another look at the screen. "There's letters there too Mai. This address appears to be near Penn station."

"Hmm…" Mai tapped the PDA a couple times. "Says here it's Madison square garden."

"So then the numbers and letters are section, row and seat." Naru responded.

Mai pulled up a map of the enclosed arena. "I'd say you're right on the money." She took a sip from the cup Naru got her and was surprised to find that it was herbal tea. She looked up and saw him glancing at her over the rim of the lid. She looked away with a slight pink tingeing her cheeks.

"Well, if we're going to visit Madison square garden we might as well pay Sakauchi a visit. He hasn't called me back and he hasn't responded to the email from earlier. It's not normal to say the least."

"You think he might be involved with all this?"

"With him you never know for sure, he can be very difficult to figure out at times." Naru answered getting up. "Come on, let's go."

The two got up and caught a train towards the garden. They decided to open the box and there, nestled inside was a small lantern shaped bottle.

"I didn't know Kingsleigh had a perfume line." Mai said plucking the bottle out of the box. She looked down into the empty space and saw another hitogata. "Ah, just a cover if anyone opened the box before us."

"Clever deduction." Naru remarked.

Mai sighed and put the bottle back in the box, pulling the hitogata out instead. "This just doesn't make sense Naru. I mean we're placing objects that look like dolls that are used for cursing all around the city randomly. Something about this whole setup doesn't feel right."

"True." Naru said an octave lower so she'd get the hint to quiet down.

After getting off the train the two headed to the arena in silence. Mai worrying over her parents, and Naru talking with Gene about trying to find where Kasai and the others were.

At the entrance they noticed a security guard standing watch.

"So, how do you plan on getting us in?" Mai asked observing the guard's actions.

"And you're asking me this because…?" Naru replied.

"Aren't you the one with all the brilliant ideas today?" Mai asked.

"As much as I appreciate being called brilliant, I've never been in this type of a situation before since I've always had clearance wherever I go. It appears we'll have to rely on your own wit to get through this." Naru told her.

"Uggh. Fine." Mai gritted her teeth and walked over to the front desk. The girl there said nothing and called the guard at the door over.

He looked like a mix of English and some sort of Latin-American descent; it was hard to tell exactly where because the European English dominated his features. His black-brown eyes settled on Mai and they made her look like an object at an auction, one he was going to buy at any cost.

"Hello, I'm Manny." the guard introduced himself. "Can I help you with something?"

Naru muttered a silent; 'here we go' and ignored the glare Mai sent him.

"Actually there is. I think I left something in the stadium and I was wondering if we could go in and look for it." Mai gave Manny a flirtatious smile.

"Hmm, have you checked the lost and found yet?" Manny asked returning Mai's smile with one of his own.

"Yes." Naru said flatly. "It wasn't there." He lied.

"Well if it wasn't at the lost and found then the chances of finding it at your seats are pretty slim." Manny said regretfully.

"Oh." Mai replied letting her face droop forward ever so slightly.

"However," Manny responded almost immediately. "I can take you to your seats and let you check."

"Really? Oh thank you so much!" Mai practically squealed. Naru glowered as Manny grinned at Mai, simply because Naru knew what that grin meant and he was pretty sure that Mai didn't.

Mai went on to tell Manny where they'd been sitting while Naru trailed somewhat moodily behind.

"You know your friend doesn't have to come with us right?" Manny asked as he and Mai walked along.

"It'd be better to just leave him. He's got big brother syndrome right now." Mai replied.

"A close friend?" Manny asked once more. Mai had to wonder why they were playing a game of twenty questions at the moment but decided to ignore it.

"Yeah, we've known each other since we were little and were just out doing some shopping together. You know; killing some time before going home."

"Shopping?" Manny raised an eyebrow at this.

"yep." Mai answered firmly. Then she leaned closer and whispered; "he's as gay as gay can be." Right now she was fully aware that Naru could hear them and was enjoying this immensely, mostly because she knew Naru would make her pay for it later.

Manny didn't say anything; instead he gave a long hard look at Mai's left hand. Mai noticed but said nothing.

"Here we go." Manny said gesturing to the door they'd reached. He pulled his key ring out and unlocked the door; then ushering Mai, and reluctantly Naru, forward inside.

Mai sent Naru a look before looking down at the hitogata in his hand and back to him. Naru got the message but was starting to regret letting Mai take the lead on this one. However, he said nothing as Mai and Manny flirted blatantly as they walked in front of him. Naru fought the same jealousy that rose in his chest whenever Yasu was mentioned; this was harder since he could actually hit the man he was jealous of at the present moment.

When they reached the seat they were supposed to, Mai made a show of searching under it before standing back up.

"Oh…" she groaned in disappointment. "I thought for sure it would be here."

"I told you the chances of finding it at the seat it was left were slim. Honestly this town is a den of thieves." Many replied.

Much to Naru (and Gene)'s disgust Manny put an arm around Mai to comfort her as he led her forward. Naru lingered back a bit to wedge the hitogata in the space between two of the seats. When he caught up to them Mai was writing down information for the guard. Naru grabbed Mai, gave Manny a polite thank you goodbye, and left as quickly as he could manage.

"You were able to leave it there right?" Mai asked once outside.

"Yes." Naru replied shortly.

"Jeez, what's got your panties in a bunch? Aside from the usual I mean." Mai asked as they walked down the street.

"Nothing, I just didn't think it was a habit of yours to go around and flirt whenever you need something." Naru replied once more.

Mai looked at him and laughed. "Don't tell me you were jealous." She told him. "Besides, you've been flirting with girls all day, but the one time I do it to move forward with the game I get scolded for it? That's not fair and you know it."

"I have not been flirting with all those girls. If anything they've been flirting with me." He caught Mai's speculative look and continued. "It's the truth. Speaking of which, was it really necessary to make the guard think I was gay?"

Mai laughed again. "It was the only way to keep his attention away from you completely. After that, I was able to flirt with him enough so he didn't notice you leave something behind."

"And it would appear you got a date out of the bargain as well." Naru finished.

"What?"

"I arrived just in time to see Manny getting your information. Care to explain that in any other way?"

"Junk email and old cell number." Mai replied. "Believe me, guys like him are the farthest you can get from my type."

"And would that be?" Naru asked.

Mai rolled her eyes. "Japanese doctors with English names that specialize in the field of paranormal research." She said dryly. "There, have I stroked your ego enough for now?"

"No, but for now it will have to do." Naru replied. "But now we should head to Sakauchi's house."

"Fine by me." Mai answered and followed him as he hailed a cab and gave the driver directions. "But are you sure he'll even be there?"

"I can practically guarantee it. Sakauchi never leaves home unless it has to do with the occult. Since I won't tell him any of my cases he has to hack the system to find out himself. He has yet to succeed." Naru replied.

"Don't you think this is breaking a rule? We only have two strikes left." Mai reminded him.

"We'll be absolutely fine involving him." Naru assure her.

"Well, if you're sure…" Mai trailed and went to looking at the scenery.

The cab arrived at the somewhat stately townhouse and Naru went in as if he owned the place. He made a motion to Mai to stay on the porch and left her there for a moment. Mai looked in to see Naru talking to a speaker on one of the walls. When he was finished he made the universal gesture of 'come here' and Mai obediently followed; the door automatically shutting behind her.

"What was all that about?" Mai asked as Naru led he to the basement door.

"Disabling the security traps." Naru answered. "As long as Sakauchi hasn't been fooling around with his burglar alarm we'll be fine." He opened the door

"And if it was changed?" Mai asked looking into the darkness below.

"Stay by my side and it'll be perfectly safe. Besides; you're agile enough aren't you?" Naru responded starting down the stairs.

When they reached the bottom step a whole bunch of flashing lights and weird sounding sirens started up. Naru sighed in annoyance.

"If you're trying to replicate a ghost's wail you're doing a very poor job of it." He called into the darkness of the room.

"Cry me a river." A voice responded as the man Mai could only believe was Sakauchi stepped into the rays of one of the overhanging lights.

"Still as predictable as always Sakauchi." Naru said to the man.

"Yeah, yeah. Wait a minute, it's bad enough when you come here alone, who is this?" Sakauchi asked looking over at Mai.

"A friend of mine, Mai Matsuzaki." Naru replied.

"I thought he was a friend of yours." Mai whispered to Naru.

"I did say it was for lack of a better word." Naru told her.

Sakauchi looked at Mai, then back at Naru. "You're lying to me again." He said.

"Prove it then." Naru answered. "Who do you think she is?"

"Mai Taniyama; heiress to the Taniyama electronics company, run by adoptive parents Ayako and Houshou Takigawa." The other man responded.

"You seem confident." Naru observed.

"I know this for a fact." Sakauchi replied walking over to the computer and pulling up several files. Mai noted that they were all articles that had to do with her family's company and she was in every one, albeit younger then she was now. But the baby face from back then had stuck with her so it was impossible to deny who she was to this man.

"Kind of creepy." Mai commented, because no matter what he said in response it would still be creepy.

"Not really." Sakauchi answered. "I'm a big fan of the company."

"Why? It's a gaming industry, and you're into the occult." Mai replied.

"Clearly you don't know a think about your birth or adoptive parents." Sakauchi observed. "The truth behind it is that every one of the games the Taniyama corp. produces has some theme to the occult. Your birth parents were huge fans of psychic research and often supported the English center for psychic research, run by your parents Oliver, and your adoptive parents are both former exorcists. Ayako was a miko, and Takigawa was a monk. Your entire life revolves around the occult now that I think about it." Sakauchi remarked.

"W-what?" was all Mai could say in response.

"Might be hard to take in but it's the truth." Sakauchi answered. "Trust me; I never lie when it comes to matters of the occult. Your parents were some of the most famous exorcists in the business."

"At any rate," Naru interrupted. "We came here on business, not leisure. So what can you tell me about those pictures I sent you earlier this morning?"

"What pictures?" Sakauchi asked in response.

Mai looked at Naru for a moment. "Can I use your restroom?" she asked.

"Up the stairs and to the left, first door on the right." Sakauchi replied. Mai left the two alone as quickly as she could.

"Alright, now what about those pictures I sent you?" Naru asked once more leaving no room for denial or refusal from Sakauchi.

The other man pulled up the pictures. "It could be something but at the same time it could be nothing at all. If you want a full report on it I'll need some more time to study it more thoroughly." He replied.

"I'll check regularly on you every hour through the phone. So answer it or I will come back here and force you to tell me." Naru told the boy.

"I get it I get it." Sakauchi replied. "The only thing I'm worried about is what you're doing running around New York with Mai Taniyama for."

"Classified information." Naru answered stiffly. "I wish I could tell you more but there are lives at stake so this is the only explanation I can give at the moment."

"Whatever you say." Sakauchi replied as Mai came back downstairs.

"You ready to go Naru?" she asked.

"Yes." He answered going towards the stairway, Sakauchi following behind.

"You have everything you need?" Mai asked.

"I think I'll take an aspirin before we leave. All of today's excitement has given me a headache which isn't good for controlling my powers." Naru replied walking towards the bathroom.

As soon as the door clicked shut Sakauchi turned toward Mai.

"Don't trust Oliver." He spat.

"Why not?" Mai asked in reply.

"Let me guess, the story he told you was that he convicted some crazy teacher of cursing her students and sent her packing right?" Mai nodded. "Only half the story." Sakauchi continued. "After he ousted her out of japan, his brother got his by a car and he went off the deep end too. He works for that crazy lady now and she's the one that's got your parents."

"how do you know about my parents?" Mai asked in a scared whisper.

"there's no time to explain, just remember what I said." Sakauchi replied as Naru came out the door.

"Mai, we're leaving." Naru told her as he walked past. Mai followed without a word.

When they were gone, Sakauchi picked up a phone and dialed a number. "I warned her just like you told me to." He said to what seemed like dead air.

"Good." There was a click and the person on the other end hung up. Now Sakauchi was more confused and worried than ever before.

When they got back to the hotel room Mai simply sat on the lone bed and looked down at her bag.

"I trust you, you know that right?" Mai asked out of the blue. Naru came and stood beside her.

"I know." He replied.

"Today is just insane. And I have no reason to trust you, but I do. Crazy right?" she continued.

"Not at all." Naru said somewhat soothingly.

"Naru, please tell me the truth, who are you?" Mai asked.

"Excuse me?" Naru said raising an eyebrow.

Mai stood suddenly to be more or less at eye level with him. She looked deeply into his eyes and leaned forward. Her lips pressed to his, and Naru's eyes widened. He tried to pull away; out of shock, not disgust, but Mai followed and wrapped an arm around his neck to pull him closer. Before Naru could really do anything to respond in a good or bad way Mai pulled back. Naru found his pistol trained at his heart.

"I'm sorry Naru." Mai said keeping the gun steady. "But I won't go through the hell I went through when I was five. My family comes first and that's all there is to it."

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><p>okay i have a request to make. i want to hit at least 45 reviews before i publish the next chapter. since at the moment i have 29 I don't think it's that much to ask. but review as always!<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

yay! another chapter. as for the review quota i was going to update anyways. it was just a test to see how you guys would respond.

at any rate I won't do that again until possibly right before the last chapter, depends on a lot of things.

disclaimer: nope, i still got nothing.

* * *

><p>Urado was almost pleased; to be correct he was never fully pleased so those who served him reveled in the times when he was almost pleased. Things seemed to be going well in a plan for revenge that was as insane as the woman who thought it up. To be sure he'd had his doubts in the beginning, but this could actually work out in his favor. Ubusuna would be much too satisfied with her revenge on Oliver Davis to notice the rest of Urado's plan. And by the time she did it would be too late. Her company would be handed over to the police with its true business exposed, she'd be put in jail; or was it the looney bin? for her actions, and he would be in the global spotlight of the new weapon company Urado Arms; formerly Taniyama Electronics. As a definite added bonus, all the people who could put him away for he'd done would be either dead, or in a place where no one would believe that all this was his doing.<p>

Sakauchi was merely a worthless pawn in the grand scheme of things. What better way to get back at a world renowned psychic and a girl whose whole life unknowingly revolved around his world than by using an invention created by a tech-savvy occult freak? And the best part? He didn't ask what they intended to do with said invention, he already knew what it could do, and if he tried to warn anybody of anything it could be traced back to him and he would be jailed and labeled as a terrorist. Besides that, he'd gone beyond expectation when it came to dividing the two who were, in Urado's opinion, becoming much too close.

'_Oliver Davis'_ the gaunt man thought looking at one of the screens that had his profile pulled up. Certainly he'd never met the man, but he had surveillance and informants. Most indicated his cold demeanor and critical attitude of anyone other than himself; but from what Urado saw the man seemed to have a soft spot for Mai, obviously driven from attraction. But who wouldn't be attracted to her now? She'd definitely grown since the last time he'd seen her. That would make her end all the more romantic, young love nipped before it even had a chance to blossom. Surely it was something out of Shakespearean fancy.

However, Urado had never been a patient man and he was eagerly awaiting the chance to dispose of the little rat. To be honest Urado was sick and tired of the life he was currently living. Sure, it demanded power and respect; but it wasn't the kind he wanted. Urado wanted to have worldly power and respect. Sighing, the cadaverous man took another glance at one of the screens. There was Ayako watching over a sleeping girl. Oliver's only living relative Kasai, Urado presumed. It was then he was reminded of Ayako and her husband's protective streak when it came to Mai. It was well known that though Mai's biological parents had wanted Mai to inherit and run the company when she was of age, but it was also well known that takigawa and Ayako were not going to force it on her. Mai could do whatever she wanted and if that meant taking over the company it was fine with them, same as if she chose not to; then if they wanted her husband could take over seeing how the former monk and miko had no children of their own besides Mai. Either way as long as Mai was happy, they were happy.

Ironic isn't it? Urado's father had plotted takeover of the company and had almost succeeded until _they_ had interfered. Mai wasn't the only one who had lost a parent that night. Because of that the company Urado had been born and bred for had been ripped from him before he could do anything about it.

'_Soon enough, things will change'_ Urado thought watching the monitor with Ayako on it intently. _'I'll have my place. And those worms will have learned theirs. I will win this, I always do.'_

It was a bit of a struggle but Willy had managed to get Lin a flight to new York within the hour like promised. All Lin needed to do was make the flight on time. Lin had thanked willy greatly before heading back to the office to make the excuse that he wasn't feeling well so he was going home. He'd no doubt they'd believe him since even when he had a cold he'd always come into the office, if only to do paper work. So if he said he needed to go home they wouldn't press him on it. All the way back though, Madoka was silent. Normally he would enjoy the one time the woman wasn't getting overly excited about everything but the way she was being quiet was unsettling.

"what's wrong?" Lin asked as they pulled in the parking lot.

"nothing, I'm just worried about you going to new York. That's all." Madoka replied blankly.

"why?"

"I overheard willy when we left the office. He told someone 'Kojou's moving' and hung up." Madoka admitted.

Lin sighed, being Oliver's guardian was troublesome enough, but add that onto being an FBI agent and things really got hectic. "I realize that being in this agency was going to be tough, but I haven't done anything to make any enemies yet. But if I'm affiliated with an enemy I can see the problem. But this job doesn't come without any risks Madoka." He explained.

"I know." Madoka replied. "Just like I know you can take care of yourself, but if you crash and don't come out alive I swear I'll never forgive you."

"I know." Lin told her. "Now, let's get to work."

Naru looked at Mai, considering his options. He had a bit of a height advantage and from the looks of her figure a weight advantage as well. That and the safety lock on the gun was still in place so he wasn't overly worried about her being able to shoot him. However, without taking her eyes off him Mai was somehow able to unlock the gun.

"Keep your hands where I can see them Naru." She ordered backing up.

"Oh, so you're going to shoot me now are you Mai?" he asked in response, trying not to let his irritation show. He noticed as he moved his hands that Mai had now taken enough distance back that she was up against the edge of the bed. If the need arose he could use it to his advantage.

He was still calculating how to do so Mai surprised him yet again. She flipped the gun so it faced her.

"Go ahead." She said levelly. "Take it from me."

Naru moved toward her and took the gun, keeping it trained at her heart. He was slightly confused (like he'd ever admit it) that she had pulled his gun on him and then flipped it to aim at her. Mai sighed, seemed like she was getting impatient about something.

"What?" Naru questioned.

"This is your opportunity." Mai replied. "I'm not going to put up a fight, I've handed over your gun, and you know I don't like to carry weapons so I'm completely clean." As she said this she shrugged out of her jacket so Naru could not only see her bare arms and her curves, but also that she was indeed clean of any weapons. "Now please, stop messing with me and take me to my family."

"Excuse me?" Naru asked. Okay, Naru knew this girl wasn't as normal as most people were but this was just plain ridiculous.

"You heard me." Mai snapped. "I want you to take me to where all this leads to instead of wasting all my time and energy or just kill me now."

"What on earth are you talking about Mai?" Naru asked once more as he reactivated the safety lock on the gun. Mai's stormy eyes calmed for a moment as he put the gun on the dresser behind him, before darkening once more.

"JUST STOP PLEASE!" Mai shouted angrily without regard for who might hear.

"What do you need me to stop Mai?" Naru countered calmly. It was starting to piss Mai off immensely that he wouldn't lose his temper even when in a fight like this.

"You are the most frustrating man on the face of the earth!" Mai groaned.

"And you have reason to believe your little miss sunshine?" Naru replied raising a brow. "Now explain why you found it necessary to pull my own weapon on me."

"It was a test." Mai said.

"Come again?"

"I wasn't going to sit around and wait for this so I gave you an opportunity to attack me." Mai answered.

"That makes no common sense at all Mai."

"Don't you dare play dumb with me now." Mai threatened, her hands balling into fists at her sides. "I really don't have the patience to deal with stuff like this at the moment to confess and take me to my family or get out!"

"Translate Mai." Naru told her. "I'm pretty good at learning new languages but I've only just met you this morning so learning your personal language will take a little while longer. It would help if you wouldn't peak in circles."

"Oh please, I'm speaking crystal clear right now." Mai ground out. "Sakauchi told me not to trust you."

"And you believed him?" Naru asked in mock (yeah right) surprise. "If that's the case then you lack more brain cells then I thought."

"Very funny." Mai retorted. "but for your information I didn't, I met him less than an hour ago and he's got creepy spider man written all over him."

"Creepy spider man?" Mai heard this but chose to ignore it. Naru sighed. "I thought you said you trusted me Mai."

"I do, but that's why I had to test you." Mai said in an annoyed tone.

"Again Mai, that makes no sense that a normal person would have."

"Don't you take that condescending tone of voice with me mister!" Mai scolded.

"You know Mai, I have spent time with certified psychopaths. But I'm starting to believe you might just top the list of them."

"Look, you didn't attack or shoot me." Mai offered up.

"And normally I would take that as a good thing, but with you I am presently unsure of what it means."

"Of course it's a good thing!" Mai replied. "How could you take it as anything but?"

"Try looking at what just happened from my perspective for a moment will you? First you go off on a small rant about how you trust me, then you kiss me out of the blue," Here Naru was glad he could hide his emotions or else he was sure he'd be a bright pink by now. "And not two seconds afterward I have my own gun pulled on me by you. How would you like me to make perfect, rational sense of that at the moment Mai?"

Mai looked at him for a moment, and then started laughing. Naru pinched his brow as Mai sank to the edge of the bed and doubled over letting out laughter that gradually got softer.

"And now you're laughing at something I fail to see the humor in Mai. I know I'm not the best at dealing with my own emotions, but I'm very good at rationalizing behavior patterns of other people." He would have continued with his mini-rant had he not realized that Mai was past laughing. Now she was silently crying, her body shaking with every sob. He was at a loss, on the one hand he could go over and possibly end up with another weapon pulled on him, and on the other hand… who was he kidding? There was no other hand when it came to this girl. She always seemed to evoke actions from him that his head knew were stupid, but that his body wouldn't listen to.

Slowly he walked over to the bed, his natural protective instinct he had for all the people he worked with closely urging him on despite whatever protests his head came up with. Gene, who had said nothing at all at the exchange, smiled. He knew it wasn't just the business protection feeling that was driving his brother to the girl; in fact he was actually beginning to open his heart and care for her, something Oliver hadn't done since his death.

When he finally reached the bed, Naru put a hand on Mai's shoulder causing her to look up at him for a moment. When her eyes met his she lunged forward, making Naru move back a step before realizing this was a need to be held, not a need to kill him indicated by the way she wrapped her arms around him tightly. He hadn't even known her for a day and yet Naru somehow knew that Mai didn't like to cry in front of other people, she might make a sad face; but she would never cry.

After a few minutes, his face was once more schooled and devoid of all emotion. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around Mai in an attempt to comfort her while he moved them back to the bed. Mai simply allowed him to move her and just burrowed deeper into the man's chest, her cries becoming muffled as she did so. When he had them sitting side by side on the bed he placed a hand on the side of her waist that wasn't against him and allowed her to rest her head against the juncture of his shoulder and neck for a few moments.

"Do you feel a bit better now?" he asked when she had stopped her tears for the minute.

"I think so," Mai replied bringing a hand to wipe her cheeks clean. "I knew I could trust you, I just _knew_ I could."

Naru thought for a moment before responding. "I trust you too Mai."

He felt her head move to look up at him. His eyes glanced down and Mai turned away with a slight blush painting her cheeks. Naru stifled a smile at the action.

"Mai."

She turned a bit too quickly and before either of them knew what happened their lips were locked once more. Both were too shocked to move, they didn't even blink. Tentatively Mai broke away and pulled out of his grip, her cheeks now a lovely shade of scarlet. She stared at Naru for a moment, and he was sure his cheeks weren't the pale white they were supposed to be anymore.

"_Say something to her Noll."_ Gene helpfully broke in.

"_Thank you for that."_ Naru replied sarcastically. _"Now would you be so kind as to tell me __**what**__ I should say after this little incident?"_

Gene was silent for a moment, and Naru could practically see him shrugging his shoulders. _"Your guess is as good as mine."_

Naru really wished his brother was alive at the moment so he could relieve the urge to hit him over the head with something large and heavy.

"I'm sorry." He heard Mai say and his attention was back on her. "I shouldn't have turned so quickly."

"It's not entirely your fault." Naru found himself saying in response. "If anything I should have been back a distance as to keep something like that from happening in the first place. We can regard it as an accident, nothing more."

"An accident?" Mai asked. "Oh, right. An accident." She repeated looking down at the floor.

Naru forced himself to ignore her tone as she said the last part. It sounded too much like disappointment, and that would get his hopes up.

"You know what? You're right." Mai said finally after another awkward moment of silence.

"I'm usually right about a number of things Mai. Try and be more specific." Naru replied.

"I mean we should just forget this whole thing ever happened." Mai continued. "Our sole focus should be finding and rescuing Kasai and my parents. Things like that are…" she paused trying to find the right word. "Unnecessary distractions."

Naru had to keep himself from visibly cringing at the words 'unnecessary distractions'. True, he wasn't much of a people person to begin with but he was never told by anyone that whatever had occurred between them was a mistake. He never like being regarded as a mistake and he wasn't going to start now. Mai sensed he was upset but she didn't know how to react. The kiss was inappropriate but she found it was not entirely unwelcomed, even if it was an accident.

'_And besides'_ a voice in her head spoke. _'If you were being completely honest you would have kissed him hours ago.'_ That thought sent chills up her spine, and Mai wasn't entirely sure it was because the thought scared her in a bad way.

"Naru?" Mai looked over him. He was avoiding eye contact with her.

"It was a mistake Mai." He assured her. "As long as we have mutual trust we'll get through this alright."

"If this were any other situation-" Mai began, but Naru raised a hand and cut her off. He knew she meant that if their loved ones were safe and sound and she lived without a boyfriend; if they had met then then maybe something could have happened.

"It's fine Mai." Naru assured her though he knew what he was saying was a complete lie.

"Okay then."

"Now, it seems we have to deal with two options. Option one is me personally sending Sakauchi to hell. And option two is staying to figure out the clue and sending Sakauchi to hell another day for this low trick."

Mai laughed. "I think we should figure out the clue though I think I would enjoy seeing you do that to him." She admitted.

She pulled out her PDA to check the clue while Naru pulled out some trail mix and handed the bag to her. She took it but just stared blankly at the screen.

"Is it really that bad Mai?" he asked after she didn't move for a few minutes.

"See for yourself." Was Mai's response.

_I have land with which I share my name_

_Along with the times I've shown my fame_

_Work and fun mix, it fills me with glee_

_Even though blinded others pay to see_

_What only those around me can show_

_And into the sky is they can also go_

"Any ideas?" Mai asked watching him read the clue.

"Not presently," Naru replied.

"Why does it feel like every time we get a new clue we're back at square one?"

"Most likely because that's what's happening." Naru answered.

"Do they think we're idiots?"

"No, but they do seem to think we're saps."

In another hotel, the assassin waited for her phone to ring. Since the tracker had been left behind she was at a loss as to where to go. Sure she could just continue to stalk her targets, but that would take precious time she did not have. On top of all that she had to deal with Yoshino. And she'd been so excited when Ubusuna had approached her with such a test of skill. Now it was frustrating that so many road blocks were popping up.

'_Whatever,'_ she thought somewhat annoyed. _'It's not like I don't enjoy the challenge'_

Getting back to Yoshino, the assassin sighed. He was a complete idiot when it came to stealth but he was a challenge when it came to brute force. However, she was anxious to get going. The sighting in the Meat Packing district had just been to make sure they were still alive and aware. She couldn't bear the thought of Yoshino getting to them first. It would be an insult to her abilities as well as a major blow to her ego.

She was till contemplating how much of a blow it would be when her phone rang.

"there's been a change of plans." Ubusuna told her before anything else could be said.

"What do you mean?" Masako hissed.

"Urado is up to something and I need collateral so you'll bring Ms. Taniyama directly to me. Understood?"

"Understood." Masako grumbled "but what about Dr. Davis?"

"If you can bring him alive then do so. Otherwise bring me his head on a silver platter."

When the phone was disconnected Masako let out a groan. "She's taking the fun out of everything!" the girl whined when she sure no one would hear her. A devious thought entered her head and she pulled up Oliver Davis' photo once more. "Maybe I should just oust the Taniyama girl and keep Davis for myself." She said aloud as she licked her lip. "That would be endless hours of fun."

Lin and Madoka stood on the private airfield in silence.

"Are you sure?" Madoka asked him once more.

"I'm sure." Lin replied turning to look at her. "Trust me; going to New York will clear a lot of things up."

"Well, if you're sure…" Madoka trailed off before launching a hug on him. "Be safe." She whispered.

"I will, but in the meantime take care of yourself Madoka." Lin said.

He boarded the chopper and Madoka couldn't ignore the feeling of dread that settled in her stomach as the machine flew out of sight.

"I think I'm coming down with another headache." Naru said running a hand through his hair and hitting the headboard he was sitting against.

"Sorry Naru, but I don't carry aspirin on me so you're gonna have to deal with it for now." Mai replied from the end of the bed.

"It must be because I'm still thinking of ways to send Sakauchi into the earth." Naru remarked.

It was what could be called a half-truth. He was thinking of ways to send the traitor to hell but also trying to get his mind off the accidental kiss they shared. Mai was right when she said that it was an unnecessary distraction because it was keeping him from focusing, something that was really important. And it didn't help that Mai was still within reaching distance.

"I think I'll go for a walk." Naru finally said sliding off the bed.

"Really? I'll go with you." Mai replied. Stretching to show her flatly toned stomach.

"No!" Naru replied quickly. When Mai stared at him oddly he made amends. "I think better when I'm alone. I'll only be gone about five minutes."

"Well, if you say so." Mai replied sinking back down to the bed.

That was how Naru left her. He took the elevator down to the ground floor because it gave him time to calm down. Stopping in the souvenir shop to buy a stress ball he made his way onto the pavement. Normally Naru had no need of a stress ball; he was perfectly adept at relieving his stress without things like that. Naru scanned the crowd for any signs of Yoshino or the unknown hunter and everything was clear. But even with the buzz of the city and the rhythmic pattern of squeezing and laxing the stress ball he couldn't rid his thoughts of Mai or their situation.

"_Dammit_!" he spat pocketing the stress ball. "Why are my emotions taking over _now_?"

"_Because God hates you?"_ Gene offered.

"_Not funny."_ Naru replied looking down to study the street pavement. Nothing at any of the stores stood out to him and he decided that he needed to find a way to ignore everything that was Mai's charm, at least until this whole nightmare was over and done with.

He stared at the pavement for no more than a minute before a tap on the shoulder made him look up. He saw a boy no older than eighteen looking at him somewhat fearfully.

"Can I help you?" Naru sighed.

"If you could please move sir," the boy began in a voice slightly higher than a normal boy's. "We need to shoot a scene here and we already have enough extras."

Naru waved the boy off and went to stand somewhere else. As the crew set up for the scene a woman came to stand by him.

"What's all this about?" she asked him.

"Some movie they're doing." Naru replied disinterestedly. He looked down at the street once more.

"Oh, anybody famous in it?" she asked as Naru looked up the catch the license plate of a passing car. His eyes widened as he figured it out.

He quickly slipped through the gathering crowd and took the stairs back up to the room. He was about ready to kick the door down by the time Mai opened it for him.

"Where's the fire Naru?" she asked as he strode in and began packing everything up.

"Where the next clue is Mai." He replied.

"Wait, you figured it out?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"A movie crew and a license plate."

"And how do those add up to the answer?"

"They give every state a nickname for promotional purposes. Do you know New York's?"

"Sorry, state trivia wasn't part of the curriculum this year." Mai replied.

"It's the empire state." Naru answered for her.

Mai's eyes widened as the answer came to her. "Alrighty then, let's go!" she said grabbing him by the arm.

"I hate heights." Mai muttered under her breath.

"I know you do." Naru replied.

"No, I mean I _really _hate heights."

"Your point has been made Mai." Naru informed her as they rode an elevator up to the sky deck of the empire state building. "So now I know you don't like being underground and you don't like heights."

"Is there anything wrong with liking being on a normal level?" Mai asked as she clung even tighter to his arm. Naru had to look the other way or else he wouldn't have been able to hide his smirk.

"And it's not normal heights that bother me." She continued. "It's heights like these that bother me."

"Heights like these being?"

"Height's over one-hundred stories." Mai replied.

"I'm alright with that Mai, but I'll need my arm back soon."

"sorry." She said sheepishly.

"However, if you need to you can hold my hand."

"Gee, thanks." Mai replied sarcastically.

"Anytime Mai, anytime."

When the elevator dinged Mai grabbed Naru's hand and the two exited the elevator. The observation deck was completely closed in preventing anyone from throwing things, or people, over the edge.

"Alright Naru, what now?" Mai asked.

"It's better for you if I'm not the one doing all the thinking Mai." He replied.

"I can't think right now. I'm too busy trying not to fall."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Naru asked noting she looked a little dizzy.

"Um, yeah I'm alright. It's just," she paused. "Vertigo." She finished with a smile.

Naru also gave a small smile remembering her excuse for falling down from the tracks. That is, once he was sure no one could see it.

"Well, to start with let's take a look at the scenery while we're up here. It might be a while before we have a chance to see it again." Naru told her guiding her to the edge.

Instead of looking out, Mai buried her face in Naru's shoulder. Naru let out a sigh through his nose and shook his head.

"Mai, it's actually a nice view if you give it a chance." He tried to reason with her. "Just take one look and then we'll be done."

"okay." Mai mumbled pulling away and standing in front of Naru. Her breath hitched at the sight of the unobstructed landscape that stretched out as far as the eye could see. "Wow, it's so pretty Naru. It's my first time being up here so I've never seen anything like this before."

"Really? I _never_ would have guessed." Naru replied.

"Oh, be quiet you." Mai said lightly hitting him on the arm.

"Excuse me," a lady with a southern accent tapped them from behind. "but are you two using that?" she indicated the coin-operated view finder sitting next to them."

"Oh, no go ahead." Mai replied as she and Naru took a step back.

"It's ok dear. The only problem I have is that so many of these things are in need of repair you have to grab what you can."

The two bid the woman goodbye and Mai clutched to Naru's arm excitedly.

"Naru, what we're looking for is in the view finders." She whispered. "People pay to see through them, and when the time's up they go 'blind'. It all makes sense."

The looked at all the broken machines. It would take up time to do each one together. Without a word Mai went to one end and Naru the other. They worked their way down and with only one more machine between them; Naru stuck his hand in the 'out of service' bag and felt a box. Discreetly he pulled it out and pocketed it before noting that someone was talking to a security guard and pointing in their direction.

"Mai, let's go." He said pulling her to face the direction he'd made them both walk in without breaking his stride.

"Why? What about the clue?" she asked.

"I've got it, but we're going to have a little trouble with security if we don't get out of here soon." Naru replied.

When they got to the elevator, people started complaining when they were pushing towards the front.

"I'm sorry, but my girlfriend isn't feeling the best right now." Naru gave for explanation. Mai took the cue and clung to him for dear life, letting out occasional groans and whimpers. The crowd softened at the sight and let them on without a hassle. Naru saw the security guard coming towards them just as the elevator doors closed.

"Stay close to a tour group when we hit the ground floor." Naru whispered to her. Mai responded by taking out a mini hairbrush and two elastics. She quickly brushed her hair into two tiny pigtails and took off the glasses she'd been wearing all day that she'd surprisingly not lost. As she brushed her hair Naru once more smelled that mix of earl grey and roses that'd come from her earlier.

"There, makes me blend in a little more don't you think?" she asked him. Naru kept his features schooled but on the inside he was fighting to stay in control. It didn't help that Mai seemed completely oblivious to how cute and innocent she looked and the hungry stares all the men in the elevator were giving her.

'_Focus on controlling your powers'_ Naru thought trying to block the charm Mai probably didn't even know she was giving off.

"Hey Naru, give me the box." She whispered. He gave it to her trying not to touch her at all. If Mai noticed, she didn't say anything.

When they hit the ground floor they quickly exited the building following a large group of people. They made it out with no incidents other than having to hold each other's hand to avoid getting lost on the way out. After walking about two or three blocks Naru took Mai to a small local café and got a table while Mai went into the restroom.

When she came back out, her hair was let down and her glasses were back in place. She took a seat across from Naru, who looked at her quizzically.

"Tell me, do you really need to wear those glasses?" he asked.

Mai shook her head. "No, I actually have perfect vision. But I didn't know how many fans of my company lived here in America so I wear these as a precaution."

"Well, the only one who recognized you was Sakauchi, and since he recognized you _with_ your glasses on I doubt they're really any use to you anymore." Naru replied. "At any rate, is there a new link up yet?"

Mai decided he was right and took off the fake glasses before pulling up the site on the PDA. She clicked the link that had appeared. Now there was an address, letters, numbers, and a decimal point.

"Wait, this is one of the libraries on campus." Mai said studying the address.

"Since you know where we need to go then let's head out." Naru replied grabbing her hand and leading her outside.

They hailed a cab and shared a pretty much silent ride over to the campus. When they got there Naru noticed that Mai was enjoying every second of it.

"Ah, memories." Mai said as they came to the doors. "I spent a lot of time here as an undergrad you know."

"And now that you've passed that point?" Naru asked noting several coeds who were staring at him intently.

"Eh. I haven't decided. I mean I majored in acting and classic literature but those were just because I was interested in them." Mai replied.

"Mai, I got a doctorate degree at age fifteen, don't you think this is something you should have figured out by now?"

"Great, now you sound like Yasu." Mai complained going over to the electronic catalog looking for the book that matched the call number they'd been sent. "He hung out alot here too." Naru couldn't help it when his eye twitched in irritation. So to get her mind of _him_ as Naru referred to Yasu in his mind, he simply leaned down to look at the location of the book they were looking for as well. He smirked internally when he caught Mai turning pink out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, we should get going." Mai said standing up. "It says here the book we're looking for is in the archives." Naru merely followed after her.

"Here, this should take us up to the stacks." Mai said leading him to a somewhat hidden staircase.

"I thought you said we were going to the archives." Naru pointed out as they ascended to the top floor.

"We are; the stacks is another name for it." Mai replied. "Supposedly, people come up here for relief from," she paused. "Academic stress."

"Misuse of a building used to further learning? How distasteful." Naru commented.

"Tell me about it." Mai agreed.

"And I'm supposed to assume you've never done the same thing with your boyfriend?" he questioned.

"Gross, I'd never even think about it." Mai said wrinkling her nose.

"Very well, start looking for the book." He ordered.

"Yes master." Mai replied in a sickly sweet voice.

"Nice to know you've learned your place."

"Why you egoistic jerk!"

Mai found the book on a dusty shelf that hadn't been used in some time and pulled on it. She suppressed a shudder thinking about the amount of time and planning that had gone into this.

"So do we leave the box with the hitogata in its place or…" she trailed as the book fell in her hand. "Naru, come weigh this."

He grabbed the book and weighed it in his hand. "It's been tampered with." He said almost immediately.

"How can you tell?" Mai asked.

"Mai, look at the book. It's thick, and consists of at least five-hundred pages, yet it weighs the same as a small stack of paper. This book is also very old, so the paper must be heavier than modern books. Ergo; it's been tampered with." He concluded by opening the book to reveal that it had been hollowed out; leaving a square just big enough for the hitogata itself to fit inside.

"Okay, now what?" Mai asked as they walked back downstairs.

"Now we should find someplace safe and work on the next clue." Naru answered reaching the ground floor first.

Mai looked around for a moment. "How about we stay here for a bit?" she offered. "I mean, we'll have reliable access to multiple resources that could help us figure out the clue. Plus there's tons of people around so we'll blend in better. I even know of a few hidden spots that would be secluded enough to have everything out in the open."

Naru contemplated it for a moment. "Very well." He sighed.

They started to move towards a table when Mai heard someone call her name. She turned around and a big smile lit up her face.

"Yasu!" she said happily running over to see him.

The two hugged and Naru had to look away because he was afraid that he would vomit if he saw the two.

"_Now you definitely can't deny that you're jealous."_ Gene pointed out.

"_So we've figured out I'm attracted to one woman. Great, now let it go Gene."_ Naru replied.

"_I'm not sure attracted is a strong enough word."_ Gene said a bit hesitantly.

"_Oh? And what word would you use to describe this?"_ Naru asked.

"_Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were in love…"_ Gene trailed off at the end because he wasn't sure how his brother would react.

"_That's stupid."_ Was all Naru said before he blocked his brother out and turned back to Mai and Yasu.

Yasu grinned. "That was the total opposite of the greeting I thought I'd get today."

"I'm just happy to see you." Mai replied as she beamed at him.

"Really? I thought that after the alarm clock incident you'd put me through hell and back before you forgave me. Hey Mai, where are your glasses?" Yasu asked her.

Mai barely remembered the incident; it had seemed so long ago. Mai glanced at Naru, she couldn't tell if the aura around him was his usual scary aura or if he was somehow trying to scare everyone off the face of the earth.

"Oh, I got contacts today so I don't need them anymore." She gave a sheepish smile before continuing. "Anyways, Yasu; I'd like you to meet my new friend Kazuya Shibuya. Naru, this is Yasu."

"Naru?" Yasu looked at him skeptically.

"Oh, sorry." Mai put her hand to her mouth. "That's just my nickname for him."

Naru kept his features schooled as he shook the man's hand. "A pleasure to meet you." He said tightly.

"Likewise." Yasu replied. "So Mai, what brings you guys here? Did you finally decide what you wanted to study?"

"Uh, not yet." Mai answered. "But I just thought I'd show Naru around while we were in the area."

"I think I'm going to take a closer look around." Naru said walking off. He left them alone because he could see the skeptical look hidden beneath Yasu's grin. Turning a corner of the bookcases he picked up a book and perused through a few pages until he was sure Mai and Yasu had moved. Fortunately for him they were one row in front of him.

"I met him this morning" Mai explained.

"Hmm," Yasu said in response.

"Really. I went out shopping this morning to get you your coffee mix and I bumped into him. We got to talking and I found out that he's going to transfer here next semester. He's taking time to adjust to the city so I thought I'd be nice and show him around."

"Really Mai? He doesn't look like the type who likes to talk. And besides, he seems too smart to need to go to college. Tell me the real reason why you're with him" Yasu replied.

"I am. Really."

"I'm just worried about you okay? I don't want something bad to happen to you."

"I know you don't but you don't have to worry about it. Naru's a good guy, and he's got self-defense training so I'm not worried about anything."

"You're really clueless when it comes to guys Mai." Naru couldn't help but agree with the statement. "Most guys play nice so they can get what they want from you and then leave without a second thought. I don't want that to happen to you."

"It's fine Yasu." Mai insisted.

Yasu sighed. "If you say so. Hey, you never answered my text earlier. How about tonight we go out for Chinese food. Sound good?"

"I'd love to. But I'm not sure if I'm even going to be back at the apartment Yasu. I might be out late just so you don't worry."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to be showing Naru around all day and then I wanted to show him a couple of good places to eat and then-"

Yasu cut her off. "Why is it so important for you to show this 'Naru' around? Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

"I'm sorry Yasu." Mai said shaking her head. "But he was going to give me ideas for my field of study tomorrow so I can't."

Naru decided that now would be a good time to step in before a fight broke out and Mai got riled up.

"Oh, there you are." Naru said coming into view. "For a moment I thought you had wandered off on me."

"No, we were right here the whole time." Mai answered. "Are you ready to go?"

"I thought we were going to stay here a little while longer." Naru replied.

"Well, there seems to have been a change of plans." Mai told him glaring at Yasu.

"You don't have to be so mad at me." Yasu said.

"I'm not mad at you, I'm just frustrated." Mai insisted.

"Mai." Naru cut in.

"What?"

"Can I have a word with you?" he asked.

"Uh, sure. We'll be right back." Mai said following Naru.

"What's up?" Mai asked when they were alone.

"We need to tell him."

"You're kidding. Right?" Naru shook his head. "But that's against the rules!"

"Forget the rules right now Mai." Naru replied. "We need someone on the outside to know what's going on if something happens to us."

"But. But."

"No buts Mai. Here's what we'll do. We'll make copies of everything we have right now and put them in an envelope. And then we'll give it to him with explicit instructions not to open it unless something happens. Fair enough?"

Mai still looked unconvinced but agreed nonetheless. "Fair enough."

They came back to Yasu and Mai slipped Naru her student ID. He looked at her.

"Use it and everything's free." She assured him.

A few minutes later Naru had everything sealed up in an envelope and was walking back to Mai and Yasu. Yasu glanced at him before standing up and walking over fiercely.

"what on earth have you gotten her into?" he demanded.

Naru just stood there emotionlessly as Yasu continued to chew him out.

"Yasu. Stop!" Mai said stepping in front of Naru like she was a shield for Yasu's rage. When he stopped yelling, Mai took the envelope from Naru and handed it to Yasu. "Yasu, I want you to hang onto this for me. And if anything happens I want you to open it. Once you see what's inside you can decide what you want to do from there."

"You're scaring me Mai." Yasu said as he took it.

"I know, but please trust me on this." Mai pleaded.

"Just so you know. If I ever have to open this I'll never forgive you." He said cracking a smile.

"I know you won't." Mai replied with a smile of her own.

"Mai, we need to move. Staying here for too long is dangerous." Naru reminded her.

"Alright. By Yasu." Naru turned away thinking they were going to hug again.

"Mai! Get down!" He said grabbing Mai's wrist and dragging her down to the floor. A bullet flew by where she'd just been standing.

The trio scrambled for cover under one of the library tables as more shots rang out. Thankfully none of them had been hit. When the shots paused Naru grabbed Mai's arm.

"We have to get moving or else other people could get hurt." Naru whispered. Mai nodded and the two made to sprint but Yasu grabbed them back.

"What in god's name do you think you're doing?" he asked them.

"Getting the shooter out of here." Naru replied.

"No way are you taking Mai out with you. I won't allow it." Yasu held a firm grip on Mai's arm.

"She's after both of us Yasu, I can't leave him to get rid of her by himself." Mai reasoned.

Yasu looked from Naru to Mai and back again. After a second, he sighed. "Fine. But you," he said looking in Naru's direction. "Better take care of her or else."

Naru curtly nodded in response and grabbed Mai's hand. "Stay low." He whispered.

When he saw Mai nod he held up his free hand and counted down from three. At zero both of them ran in a duck-and-cover fashion out of the library and into the subway. As soon as they had sat down on the machine Mai rested her head against Naru's shoulder as she caught her breath.

"Naru, I'm shaking all over." She told him.

"It's the adrenaline." Naru replied having stopped his shivers by the time they sat down.

"And how come you're completely fine?" Mai asked.

"I've been in situations where running for your life like that is the best option before. I know how to deal with the adrenaline." Naru answered.

"Care to show me how it's done?"

"Just take it as a good thing you're still able to function because most people aren't." Naru replied.

"Do you think Yasu's okay?" Mai asked.

"He should be fine. The assassin wasn't aiming for anyone but us." Naru assured her.

"Thank god." Mai let out a sigh of relief. "I don't know what I would do if something happened to Yasu."

"Like I said," Naru replied forcing down a dry swallow. "She wasn't aiming for anyone but us. But it's probably best if you keep him from going back to your apartment. It wouldn't be good if the hunter got your boyfriend by mistake."

Mai sat up and gave him an odd look. "What did you just say?"

Naru sighed. "I said that it would be best if Yasuhara didn't go back to the apartment because they know where the both of you live and you wouldn't want him shot by mistake."

"No, you said he was my boyfriend." Mai pointed out.

"And your point is?" Naru asked wondering why she was questioning her own relationship.

"Yasu and I aren't together." Mai told him.

"The way you interact with each other is the same way couples do no?"

"It might but Yasu and I are more like brother and sister than anything." Mai replied.

"You live together."

"Separate bedrooms, and only because he got a good deal on the place."

"Explain the way your eyes lit up whenever you talked about him."

"We're best friends, and he's a jokester. He knows how to make me laugh without even saying a word."

"Wonderful." Naru replied curtly.

"Why are you so concerned about it?" Mai asked him before something dawned on her. "You weren't, _jealous_ are you?"

"Do I need a reason for every emotion I feel?"

"Oh my god… you _were jealous_! And of Yasu? That's completely ridiculous!" Mai burst out laughing. "me and Yasu, never in a million years!"

Naru just stared out the opposite window, his lips set in a tight line.

"Aw, come on Naru. There was no reason to feel anything towards me, let alone the kind of relationship I have with Yasu."

Naru just shook his head. "You really are no good." He muttered.

When the train came to a halt he quickly exited with Mai following behind. She followed him over to a less crowded area and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Naru? You okay?"

He slowly turned around and Mai found herself trapped in his eyes. She didn't realize she'd been moving until she was backed up against a cement pole, Naru just inches away.

"Nar-" the last syllable was cut off as his lips met hers. Mai was too shocked to do anything but after a moment she responded, much to Naru's satisfaction. His hands grabbed the sides of her waist and pulled her from the pillar. Mai's arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer. When he finally broke the kiss for air he was able to see Mai breathing heavily with hazy, half-lidded eyes. It pleased him to no end.

"You're absolutely right." He finally said. "There's no reason why I, a person who has never felt anything towards any woman before, should feel anything for you. I am a man who can't afford to feel anything. If I do I could very well end up destroying all humanity. It's illogical for me to feel after I haven't felt anything in years. But you seem to evoke the most illogical actions in me. Let me tell you something Mai, I am a very possessive person. When I want something; I will do whatever it takes to get it. And I don't like sharing things that are mine with anyone else. Let me also inform you that I am quite pleased with the fact that I was the one who received your first kiss earlier today."

Mai gasped. "How did you-"

"I can experience a person's memories by touching them or a possession of theirs. I can also see their future. I saw the little _boys_ that tried to take what you gave me away from you. Then I saw me, and nothing more. The only logical conclusion I can draw from that is that you are now _mine_. Do you understand?"

He saw her nod. "Good, now I know you are enjoying this thoroughly and it pleases me greatly to know that, but we don't have time like other people do. This was just to make my point clear to you."

"I got the message." Mai was now able to form coherent words. "But, even if I am _yours_ I'm still gonna do things the way I want to. And if you don't like it that's too bad 'cause I won't change for anybody."

"You wouldn't be Mai if you did that." Naru said taking her hand and leading her out of the subway. "but I expect, that eventually I'll have no trouble handling you and that temper of yours."

"Why you…! Egotistical jerk!"

* * *

><p>you wouldn't believe how hard it was to write the first kiss scene between naru and mai in this chapter. in the story this is based off of the main male character kissed the main female character on purpose but that didn't really seem in naru's character to me so I had to spend alot of time thinking about how to write it. I think Yasu is a bit OOC in this chapter but I could just be paranoid. to be completely honnest I think the last part of the chapter above is how a kiss scene would go down between the two anyways but... kinda seems the tiniest bit OOC. anyways review and tell me what you think!<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

okay so i know it's not as long as other chapters but i've been having a bit of a lacking passion to write anything lately, not just this story

disclaimer: does anybody really believe i'd claim ownership to ghost hunt. it's a dream but only one that will happen after i win the lottery and go to japan for a month long vacation.

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><p><em>Lights, Camera, Action!<em>

_Where so many cinemas got their life_

_Being destroyed, renamed, and reborn_

_I could be a story all my own_

_The best of the best is where the next clue waits_

_The curtain falls; stay awake!_

"I have no idea what I'm going to do, but when I get my hands on the person who wrote theses clues I'm probably going to lose it on them." Mai threatened.

"You should be focusing that kind of anger on the person responsible for all this." Naru replied.

"Oh, don't worry. I've something entirely different in mind for them." Mai informed him with a devilish grin at the prospect. She sighed and irritably rolled the tip of the pen in her teeth trying to figure out the clue.

Naru watched her for a moment before deciding that while yes, he had ticked off Mai on more than one occasion; mostly for his own amusement, he would not want to be on her bad side. Not even for a moment. At any rate, they'd checked into the third hotel of the day; paying cash and registering under fake names. Though thankfully, there was a guard checking to make sure all guests had card keys before letting them in the elevator.

"What?" Mai's voice snapped him back to reality.

"Nothing" Naru replied. "I just happen to think it's amusing how something that seems as innocent as you could be so bloodthirsty. That's all. If I were any other man I would say that it's cute."

Mai fought down a blush. "And you're the one telling me to focus." She grumbled. It had been less than a half hour since Mai had confessed to not having a boyfriend. And it had been less than at least twenty minutes since Mai kept replaying what had happened after that. Naru had told her that when he wanted something, he'd do whatever it took to get it. He'd also told her that he didn't like sharing things that were his with anybody else. If she could assume that he was right in saying that she now belonged to him, she would have a hard time focusing on anything else. "Aren't you the very embodiment of 'don't speak unless you have something worth saying'? Why aren't you following that code now?"

"I do not have to follow a code simply because I seem to be the physical representation of it." Naru replied.

"I suppose, but we need to focus Naru. We're already halfway through our time limit and we don't know how many clues we have left to solve." Mai told him.

"I'm well aware of the fact Mai." Naru answered smoothly. "Now do you have any ideas of where this might be pointing us to?"

"I think it's Broadway." Mai replied.

"And why not Times Square?" Naru argued. "Think of all the cameras and other equipment they have there."

"Yes, but also think of how hard it is to get into a studio in a place like Times Square." Mai countered. "Plus, one of the lines in the clue makes a reference to the curtain falling which makes me believe that it's Broadway we're looking for and not times square."

"Normally, I could argue logic like that but given the situation I put my trust in what you say. However, it is more pertinent to have solid evidence first." Naru replied.

"I agree completely." Mai answered through a yawn. The stress of the day was definitely taking its toll on her and she wanted nothing more than to take a nice long nap. Unfortunately there was no time for such a thing.

Naru watched her and noted how tired she seemed. "Mai, you should take a nap, it'll be too much trouble to finish this game if I'm dragging you through it while you're half-dead." He told her firmly.

Mai yawned again. "But we don't have time." She protested weakly.

"Just take ten minutes to rest." Naru replied.

Mai shook her head. "No, but maybe a shower will help." She said heading towards the bathroom. She was so preoccupied with getting there she missed Naru's head shoot up and his eyes widen.

"Do what you must, but don't take too long." Naru told her tightly. "I'll still be working on the clue when you're done." Mai nodded at him and shut the door.

When it was locked Naru let out a breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding. He rubbed his temples with his fingers to try and let out his agitation. He knew Mai was somewhat reckless and didn't always think things through but this was ridiculous. He had already informed Mai that she now belonged to him, and that it was getting to be very hard keeping his control when he was around her, but she just didn't get it did she? Or maybe she wanted to torture him; the thought was shot down almost as instantly as it had come up. Mai would never do something like that, besides that fact he would know if she were up to something. She was so easy to read.

"_Noll, hate to be a bother but it might be best if you focus on the clue."_ Gene pointed out.

"_Well aware of the fact."_ Naru replied think he should go somewhere Mai wasn't so he would be able to do as he said he would. Hearing the shower startup he was all the more inclined to go. However, he decided that if he could tune out at least fifty of the annoying lab lackeys back home in his father's research facility then he should be able to tune out Mai. Should, of course, being the key word.

Satisfied, with that idea Naru kept his eyes glued to the lines, not allowing his focus to stray to any other subject; particularly a brunette, cinnamon eyed subject with a fiery attitude. He became so engrossed with the task at hand he didn't notice Mai had finished with her shower. Hearing the door open Naru glanced at the clock on the nightstand; she'd been in there a good fifteen to twenty minutes. He then looked up to find Mai clad in a fluffy, oversized towel and nothing more from what he could see. His body then reacted in the most logical way, in other words; he froze.

"Sorry I took so long." Mai apologized not even looking at Naru as she rummaged through her bag. "I shouldn't take much more than a few minutes to finish up." Without giving Naru a chance to reply Mai headed back to the bathroom.

After the door clicked shut once more Naru knit his brows together and put his hands to his temples. He bit back a groan of frustration. There was no way she was doing this unintentionally. She had to be teasing him, she just _had_ to be. When she came back out, she looked more refreshed and had pulled her hair into a low ponytail at the nape of her neck.

Naru pinched the skin between his brows and shut his eyes at her. "Mai." He said.

"Yes?"

"You are well aware of the powers I possess right?"

"Right."

"And you are also well aware of the fact that I could destroy the whole building if I lost control of my emotions right?"

"Sure…"

"I'm sure you don't want that to happen right?"

"No, I don't want that at all." Mai said still not knowing where the man was going with this.

"Well, if you don't wish for that to happen; I suggest you don't walk around in a towel anymore." Naru finished.

Mai blushed as the pieces of the puzzle came together. "I thought you had keeping your emotions under control! You can't seriously be blaming this on me!"

"I can, and I am." Naru replied looking over the ideas he had jotted down on the notepad. "I told you before, you're _mine_. I wouldn't call possession of you if I didn't like you. The reason I like you is because you make me feel emotion. Now that triggers certain hormones and I'm sure you can figure out the rest." He explained.

"Huh?" Mai asked not quite getting it.

"Never mind I'll explain it to you when we have more time on our hands." Naru said dismissing the subject.

"Alright." Mai agreed. "Have you thought of anything new yet?"

"No, the best we have so far is Times square or Broadway." Naru answered.

"Well, let's try Broadway first." Mai replied. "It's closest to where we are so it'll take less time."

"If you say so." Naru said in response.

Self-proclaimed paranormal researcher Tomoaki Sakauchi was at a loss. At the current moment he was contemplating the merits of a panic room; or at the very least a more high-tech security system. Apparently anyone who wanted to could get into his lab and research facility, as exampled by the way Oliver Davis strode in earlier like he owned the place.

"Idiot." Sakauchi muttered under his breath. Still as cocky and confident as ever. And everyone admired him for it. It didn't matter that they thought he was Kazuya Shibuya; he was still the most sought after man ever.

And then, there were Ubusuna and Urado. Those two were completely insane, and he actually thought of helping them just to knock them down a peg.

It's not that he wasn't happy that a working model of one of his own inventions was out in the world. But he would have preferred it if it had been one that _wouldn't_ cause mass destruction, chaos, and hysteria. That invention had been placed on a specific shelf for a specific reason. The reason being that it was just too dangerous to ever be used and there was no situation to ever call for its use.

"_Dammit_." The man cursed. At this point anything he did or didn't do was only going to lead him downhill. He knew Oliver would not stay completely blinded for long. Sooner than later he would figure out who was the creator of everything and Sakauchi was completely sure that his dad wouldn't be able to get out of this one.

All of it, every single thing would be pinned to him and there was no hiding place in the world where he could stay without drawing attention to himself because of his, odd, interests. It would probably be better for him if the lunatics won this game. Both people would be eradicated so there was nothing they could do to him. But his conscience would never let him live with that, especially since Oliver was a fellow psychic researcher and Mai was the daughter of two influential people in the parapsychological world. And besides that, Sakauchi knew he was just a useful tool to the lunatics. Once Oliver Davis and Mai Taniyama were dead Urado and Ubusuna would have him taken care of without a second thought. Because then he would no longer be a useful tool, he'd be a use_less_ tool instead.

Sakauchi sighed, why did doing the right thing have to be so tough? "I'm dammed if I do, and dammed if I don't." he muttered. "Life sucks."

Masako was at a slight loss. The tracker was gone and she had no idea what the next clue was talking about. There were literally hundreds of possibilities in this city. Clubs, theaters, studios, well that was all she had at the moment but still; there were hundreds of those in this city. It would take hours to check everyone and by the time that happened they would have moved on to the next clue. The woman sighed in frustration; this was not going the way she had hoped at all.

"Hmm… I wonder if it would be too much to ask for the answers to the clues." She thought aloud. She shook her head not even a moment after it surfaced. She was a professional for a reason. It was because she didn't need things like cheat sheets to track down her targets. She was always fine on her own.

Masako sighed once more, she would never admit this to anyone but sometimes she missed being a simple medium. After she'd started this business the spirits still called out to her, they always called to her to help them move on. They were always so insistent, but the worst part was that Masako couldn't turn her medium powers off. So she'd always hear the voices of the people she'd killed, begging to know why she did it. Masako sighed; she only did it because she needed a challenge. She honestly didn't like disposing of well-meaning people, but they were in the way of the people with the biggest bids, so they needed to be taken care of.

Truth be told, this challenge was merely a game of cat and mouse. Once Masako caught them she would have to bring them to Ubusuna and Urado, and then watch as they were killed before her very eyes.

'_Stop thinking about it'_ she scolded herself. _'Thinking about it will only drive you away from this.'_ Truth be told it also happened to be making her sick to her stomach.

Killing people herself was one thing; she was always merciful with her death delivery. Usually it was with a gun or fast acting arsenic. Just because it was her job to kill didn't want to make the victims suffer anymore then they would when they were dead. But if she knew Ubusuna and Urado, which wasn't very well but she had a good overview of their personalities, they'd draw out and prolong the death as much as they could, just for the sick sake of watching Mai and Oliver suffer. Using a gun would be most merciful, and they wouldn't simply aim for the heart or the head. Oh no, they'd take their time shooting off each and every appendage and watching the blood flow before finally ending it.

More likely to happen though, was the use of whips and knives. First a crack of the whip to create tears, and then slowly dragging the sharpened blade of the knife over porcelain skin. Carving it up like a Christmas ham. Masako shuddered, especially since she, like Sakauchi, was only useful as long as Mai and Oliver were alive. Once they were gone, Masako would become their plaything for all of about two minutes before she was shot dead. Unlike the two her death would be quick. Quick, but it would hurt like hell.

Masako shook her head once more, if it was going to be her last job, then she was damn well going to do it to the best of her ability. If it ended in her own death, then so be it. At the very least she was going to go out on top.

Gene watched his brother and Mai from where he stood in the astral plane. He just couldn't believe the luck this incident was turning out to possess. Sure, Kasai was god knows where in god knows what conditions, but Noll, his baby brother Noll, had found a woman he actually wanted. At that very moment Gene wished with all his no longer beating heart that he was still alive. Oh the hours of fun he could have teasing his brother about this. Teasing him inside his head was enjoyable, but it would be even better if he could tell Mai all sorts of embarrassing things in Oliver's hearing. Gene sighed, maybe he could try and visit Mai in her dreams sometime. That ought to be a whole lot of fun.

Turning away from the currently arguing couple, Gene focused on finding Kasai. The more he focused, the clear his picture got. He saw his little cousin with a middle-aged woman, one he could only presume was Mai's adoptive mother. At the moment her back as facing him, so he couldn't see what she looked like. But as soon as she turned Gene nearly gasped. Ayako Matsuzaki was a very impressionable woman. He had met her once before at a hospital in Japan. It was at the time Oliver had been too busy with work to come sightseeing with him and somehow he'd managed to get mugged. Ayako had found him in an alley and took him to the hospital, where she tended his wounds before other doctors came to look him over. Ever since that day Gene had always been grateful to Ayako and had even been writing back and forth after his return to America. He was pretty sure she was worried when she stopped getting letters from him, but there was nothing he could do about that.

At that moment, Gene silently swore to himself that he would do everything to help get Ayako back safe and sound.

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><p>well, i've been trying to work on character personality development. and i hope you guys like it because starting with the focus on masako everything after that is my own work, not inspired by the author whose story gave me the idea to write a vesion of my own for ghost hunt. and for those of you wondering, gene didn't know ayako was mai's mother because he was also trying to find kasai when mai was explaining it he came back right as mai finished her explanation and naru started giving his.<p>

anyways; review!


	10. Chapter 10

gomenesai gomenesai! i'm sorry this took so long! in other news i'm glad people like my other story master and maid but story alerts and favorites aren't exactly what i crave... anyways on with the story!

disclaimer: it should be obvious by this point that i don't own ghost hunt

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><p>"Is it a compromise?" Naru asked, being finished and somewhat fed up with the argument he'd been having with Mai for the past five minutes. The sour look she gave told him she was far from done with him. "Mai, as I have said before, I'm not the best with emotions. So I really don't understand why you feel the need to be so moody."<p>

"I'm not moody!" Mai snapped pouting and folding her arms over her chest.

Naru had to keep from rolling his eyes. "Right; and snapping at me for no reason at all _isn't _being moody?"

"You're being very aggravating right now." Mai replied.

"And you're getting cranky." Naru shot back.

Mai threw him a glare he could tell she didn't mean. He felt a smirk tug at his lips. Mai noticed this and seemed to crack. She now gave him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry." She told him. "I guess I'm just frustrated."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much." Naru said slipping an arm around her waist to keep her from getting dragged away with the flow of the crowd. Mai blushed slightly as she kept up with his pace. "The end will be soon, I have a good feeling it's already in sight."

"It's kind of hard for me to believe you're actually worried." Mai replied.

"I do worry; my cousin is in danger in case you've forgotten. But, I'm not letting it consume me." Naru answered after a moment's deliberation. "You absolutely can _not_ let worry take hold of you. You can acknowledge it if it will keep you sane, but letting it consume you is the worst thing you can do in a situation like this."

Mai leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. "I guess you're right."

"Aren't I always?" Naru asked in response.

"Don't make me hit you." Mai threatened not taking her head away from its position. "But in all honesty, I'm glad you're here with me. I really don't think I could do this alone."

"I wonder how they didn't foresee this turn of events." Naru said seemingly randomly.

"What do you mean?" Mai asked.

"Considering the vast difference in personality, it makes more sense that we _wouldn't_ be able to work together." Naru explained.

"Yeah, that does make sense. But, you know what they say." Mai replied. "Opposites attract."

Naru gave her a look that said 'do you really believe in that kind of stuff?' Mai giggled and slapped his shoulder playfully.

"Oh come on, you really don't believe in that?"

"No Mai." Naru replied. "I find it hard to believe that people who are completely different can be in love and stay in love."

"I think it's because they're so different, it keeps things new and interesting." Mai reasoned. "Whereas, if two people who have the exact same personality get together, it fades faster because you run out of things to talk about and you always have the same opinion on everything."

"A good reason." Naru remarked. "But getting back to compromise. I still believe that the object is located in Times Square."

"And I'm convinced it's Broadway." Mai shot back.

"But you can't give a concrete reason why." Naru pointed out.

"Yeah, what's your point?" Mai asked.

"That _is_ my point Mai. We don't really have the time to be running all over the place without a clue of what we're doing." Naru reminded her.

"You still agreed to check out Broadway with me."

"No. I agreed to investigate the most obvious choice in Broadway. The Lunt Fontanne." Naru retorted.

"I have a sneaking suspicion you're wrong." Mai practically sing-songed back at him.

"Let me guess, you're 'instinct'?" Naru asked suppressing the urge to roll his eyes.

"Yep. But if you insist, we'll check out the Lunt Fontanne first." Mai replied. "By the way, why _do_ you think it's the Lunt Fontanne?"

"It's one of the more popular theatres here in New York." Naru answered picking up from the leisurely pace their walk had slowed to.

"And?" Mai pressed.

"And what?" Naru responded. "Isn't it enough of a landmark to be used in this game?"

"I guess." Was Mai's noncommittal response. "But what if I'm wrong? We don't have enough time to waste on trial and error."

"Must I repeat _everything_ I say to you?" Naru asked looking over at her. "The end of this will be soon."

"And I should trust _your_ instinct because?" Mai asked in response.

"Hmm, I believe _I'm_ the one who's solved more cases similar to this one than you." Naru reminded her. "Trust me."

"Right." Mai agreed. "So which way do we go? I've never been to Broadway before so I'm not familiar with the theatres here."

"You honestly think I remember after being away for so long?" Naru asked.

"Kinda." Mai replied. "Even if you've been away for what, three years?; you should remember how to get to the theatres."

"I never went to any of the plays on Broadway Mai. I was the son who stayed home and studied every night rarely focusing on anything else. Gene would have been the one to ask for directions."

"Can't you ask him now?" Mai asked.

"I doubt it. He's been in D.C for two years and dead for one year. I think we should be lucky he even remembers who he is at this point." Naru replied.

"_Hey!"_ Gene protested. Naru chose to ignore it.

"Of course." Mai groaned.

Then she looked around and saw a doorman disinterestedly holding the door for customers of the restaurant he worked at. Mai went over and began talking to him. He responded animatedly and Naru noted that the guests were getting inside on their own.

He decided that the man was getting a little too close for comfort and strode towards Mai.

"Have you gotten directions to the theatre yet Mai?" he asked putting an arm around her waist and secretly reveling in the way she stiffened under his touch.

"Yes." Mai replied tightly. "Thank you for the help." She said waving at the doorman as they left. Naru bit back a smirk at the look of jealousy and confusion written across the man's face.

"What was that for?" she asked sharply when they were out of the man's hearing range.

"Just a precautionary measure." Naru replied.

"And just why, pray tell, did you need to take a precautionary measure with me just then." She responded.

"Mai, did you even notice the doorman?" Naru asked testing to make sure of something he speculated.

"Of course I did." Mai replied. "If I hadn't, why would I have gone over for directions?"

"Right." Naru said in response. Internally he chuckled; it was obvious Mai wasn't known for picking up on subtlety. She didn't even notice the pitiful flirting techniques the man had been pulling. "Now, since you know where to go, lead the way."

Lin was relieved when he learned that the helicopter would not be the main mode of flight transportation he would be using to get to New York. The transfer from the chopper was surprisingly fast, easy, and simple enough. Now he was settled on a fueled up private jet and they were soaring through the skies. Without checking messages, Lin let his mind wander to Noll and that girl he was with. The name Mai rang a bell for him. But the only Mai he ever knew of and met was Mai Taniyama; the "daughter" of Ayako and Takigawa, former colleagues of his that no one, not even Noll, knew about. But he hadn't heard from them in quite some time, he supposed it was alright since they were always busy with that company of Mai's they took over for her. He looked to the cloudy gray skies overhead and sighed, it was going to be a long flight.

"This place is barbaric." Naru commented grabbing Mai's hand before she was trampled underfoot. "I know Broadway's shows are popular but this is simply ridiculous."

"You're telling me." Mai agreed looking at the sea of people in the lobby. "How on earth are we supposed to find what we're looking for in this mess?"

"Maybe you could use your name to get us in." Naru suggested.

"I doubt it." Mai scoffed. "Like I said before, I'm not well known here in America. What about you Dr. Davis?"

"That would be a truly bad idea." Naru replied. "I am not sure of what exactly would happen, but I am sure it would not be good for either of us. Besides Mai, what can we do during a show? We'd attract too much attention trying to look for the object we need."

"I guess you're right." Mai agreed. "And we don't even know where to start looking. It'd be like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

Naru kept a firm grip on Mai's hand, and a good thing too because in that instant a shove pushed Mai forward and if Naru hadn't had so tight a grip on her hand she would have fallen face first into the cement. He pulled Mai up and helped her dust herself off. The man who had pushed the girl started speaking rapidly in Japanese. Mai replied just as quickly and shook the man's hand before he walked away.

"He did apologize right?" Naru inquired quizzically.

"Yes. But couldn't you tell? I mean you do speak Japanese." Mai replied.

"You forget Mai. I spoke Japanese when I was little. I was raised in England for a good portion of my life before coming here and I haven't been to Japan for a few years. I can understand Japanese in a more normal setting but not when it's spoken in a din like this." Naru replied gesturing to the noisy crowd behind them.

"Right. Well I got some interesting news from him though." Mai informed him as she took out her PDA.

"Oh? And what would that be?" Naru asked.

"Let's get out of here first." Mai said turning towards the exit. "It'll be easier once we can breathe."

"And what happened to getting in there?" Naru asked in response.

"We don't want to go in there. The man told me that the show for tonight was cancelled. With it shut down we'd be in there totally alone. Tell me that's not freaky coincidence." Mai replied.

"Okay, so are we going to times square like I thought?" Naru asked.

"No, it's still Broadway, but we've got the wrong theatre and I have a feeling I know what the right one is now." Mai answered.

"And what would the theatre be?"

"I think it's the Majestic Theatre." Mai said after a few more taps on the touch screen. She held it up for him to see the website. "A ton of shows got their start there. And half of said shows that have been performed there have been made into movies; justifying 'lights, camera, action'."

"Hmm," Naru pondered it for a moment. "What else does it explain?"

"It's been torn down, rebuilt, and renamed." Mai went on. "I personally think this is the one we're looking for, but what about you?"

Naru was silent for a moment. "I believe you're right." He finally said.

"Great! But to add to the list of creepy coincidences; my parents donated a huge amount money to aid their production of 'The Phantom of The Opera' last year." Mai's voice dwindled to a whisper as she neared the end of the sentence.

"Oh." that was Naru's response. "That's a very big coincidence."

Mai nodded in response. "Well, we should go to the theatre and find that clue." She said walking in its direction. Naru followed after her.

"I thought you said that you didn't have much to do with the company at the moment." Naru said recalling one of their earlier conversations. "How did you remember that your parents donated money for the production of the show?"

"I didn't." Mai replied as they reached the door. "It was on their website."

"Alright then. Do you think you'll be able to get us in house?" Naru asked once inside the lobby.

"What?" Mai asked, blinking in confusion.

"The seating for the audience in a theatre is called the house Mai." Naru explained slowly.

"Oh." Mai said in that tone that blatantly told the other person they got it. "Well, I'm not exactly sure they'll believe me when I tell them who I am. Either way, just play along. But I wonder; can you do it?"

"What do you mean by that?" Naru asked, slightly unsure of what she was implying.

"I mean you will have to show emotion to help convince them of whom I am and why we want to get in there." Mai explained. "And I know how you _love_ to show emotion."

"Contrary to popular belief Mai; it doesn't take a complete genius, though it helps to be one, to act. I can act like I emote like any _average_ person does." He said the word average like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Whatever." Mai rolled her eyes and walked to the ticket booth to request a tour of the establishment. After a minute's conversation with yet another disinterested worker –Mai had to wonder how many people in this city hated their jobs and if so why did they applied there in the first place- a manager was called to attend to the needs of the two sole people inside the building at the moment.

"Can I help you?" the manager; a pleasantly plump gray-haired man, asked with a polished smile in place.

"Yes, my friend and I would like a tour of the theatre this evening." Mai smiled sweetly.

"I'm sorry," the manager began. "But unfortunately we've been having some electrical problems as of late so the entire theatre has been shut down until the repairs are made."

"Really?" Mai questioned, feigning innocence as though the teen at the box office had not already told her the same thing moments before. "That _is_ too bad. You see, my friend here is only in town for the night and one of the things he wanted to do whilst in New York was see a Broadway show here. And since the shows had been cancelled I thought a tour might make up for it." Naru could practically taste the sugar that was coating Mai's words. "Are the electrical problems really that bad?"

The manager began his response when another worker ran up to the group, bid a quick apology for interrupting before whispering something into the older man's ear and running off without so much as a farewell.

"Well," the manager began as momentary shock was washed off his face. "Surprisingly enough the electrical problems seemed to have sorted themselves out."

"Oh!" Mai's voice was almost squeaking. Naru could see her face light up earnestly as though it was the best news she'd gotten all day. Wait a minute; scratch that, it probably was. "Does this mean you can give us a tour now?"

"I'm terribly sorry miss." The manager replied sincerely. "But I'm afraid we just…" he trailed off.

Mai nodded understandingly. "I understand. You simply 'can't'. Not even for the daughter of a donor right?"

"Daughter of a don-" the manager faltered. "I'm so sorry miss; do you think you could remind me of what your name was?"

"It's Mai." Mai replied. "Mai Taniyama. Well, I'm sorry Kazuya" She said turning to Naru. He thought about how accustomed he'd grown to her little pet name for him in the course of less than a day and how foreign his alias sounded falling from her mouth. "Maybe the next time you come to visit right?"

Naru kept his head facing towards the ground and nodded slowly, almost dejectedly. Mai turned to start making her way out of the theatre.

"Wait!" the manager called after them. "I believe something can be arranged after all Ms. Taniyama. Wait here just a moment." They watched him run to the back.

"It's nice isn't it?" Naru asked as they waited for the man to return.

"What is?" Mai replied.

"Knowing you'll get whatever you want simply by snapping your fingers." Naru answered.

"I'm not like that and you know it." Mai chided him. "And what? Like you've never had that kind of advantage before in your life? I find that hard to believe." She replied once more.

"And just _what_ are you implying by that?" Naru pressed.

"A guy who was able to get a doctorate degree at age fifteen must have at least three major things." Mai explained. "One; a very skilled mind. Two; a _lot_ of time on their hands. And three; major connections to a leisurely life to allow for so much spare time and thus allowing them to be able to receive a doctorate degree at an otherwise unheard of age." She clarified. "And besides; your attitude towards everyone and everything practically _screams_ 'young master'."

"_Impressive deduction."_ Gene commented from the sanctuary that was Naru's head.

"_Why do I get the feeling you're going to use your eternal unresting afterlife to continuously torture me?"_ Naru replied.

"_Aw, baby brother knows me so well."_ Gene replied. Naru could almost see the smirk settle itself on his older brother's face, the tone making it seem as though Gene actually _was_ talking to a baby. He was also sure that if Gene were still alive right now he would have ruffled the younger twin's locks in jest.

"Naru? Naru? Earth to Naru; we need you to wake up now." Mai sang in his ear.

"What?" Naru shook his head and blinked.

"You were spacing out." Mai informed him.

"I was not as you so like to call it 'spacing out'" Naru replied.

"Oh? Then pray tell, what _were_ you doing staring at a wall for a good, I don't know, five minutes?" Mai's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Talking with you-know-who." Naru said as the manager came back out.

"Oh. And what did he have to say?" Mai asked while the man returned to them.

"I really think that's none of your business." Naru replied. "Now let's get this tour started shall we?"

A little over forty-five minutes later, Mai had known more about Broadway, running a theater, and the history of the Majestic Theatre than she wanted to know about anything on Broadway ever. More than she ever thought there _was_ to know about it. Dutifully she listened diligently as Mr. Grayson, the evening manager, tool them through every centimeter of the establishment. Naru and she kept their eyes peeled as they were maneuvered through, but the only place that seemed to make sense –as Naru had stated before- was the house. Being led into the seating area Mai felt a shiver run down her spine. Without the people eagerly waiting for the show to start the place looked gloomy, desolate, and just plain creepy. Mai looked up at the stage to see Naru already standing up there and looking at her with a sweet smile.

Mai blinked a few times before looking over to her right to wonder how Naru had already made it up onto the stage without making a sound of leaving her side. Naru was still by her side, Mai looked back to the stage and let out a squeak; the Naru that was up on stage was still there.

"What's wrong Mai?" the Naru by her side asked.

"But you, you're here. Why are you up there too? How can you be in two places at once?" Mai spluttered quietly so Mr. Grayson wouldn't overhear and think her crazy, though Mai was starting to doubt her own sanity at the moment.

Naru looked towards the stage; he saw nothing, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything there. He had a good feeling that he knew what the something there was.

"Mai, did you forget I'm part of a set of identical twins?" Naru whispered back. Mai, still looking at the stage, nodded mutely. "And it is not scientifically possible for _one_ person to be in two places at once?" Again, Mai merely nodded with her eyes glued to the stage. "Then Mai, I'd like you to meet my brother Gene."

The lookalike on stage gave another smile and a little wave to the young woman.

"Okay." Mai breathed. "I think I can handle this." She turned to Mr. Grayson; who was staring at the two of them quizzically. "Can I go up on stage?" Mai asked him. "I've always wanted to see what the actors in plays saw staring at the audience."

Mr. Grayson nodded and guided her up while Naru stayed behind in the seating. Naru went to the center of first row, checking under the seat discreetly while Mai distracted the manager.

"Wow." Mai was awestruck as she stood center-stage looking out at the sea of empty seats. Gene had disappeared once she'd come up the steps. "That's the last point a person from the audience would see right?" she asked pointing where Naru was sitting. Mr. Grayson nodded. "So N-Kazuya's seat is the best in the house right?" along the way of the tour Naru had figured out that the best of the best was the best seat in the best theater, so if they figured out where the best seat was; they'd find the clue.

Mr. Grayson chuckled. "Most people might think that. But in actuality the more preferred seats are the ones in the center of the second and third rows. That way they're right in the middle, and they don't have to strain to see the actors on stage."

"Oh really? So the centers of the second or third rows are the _best of the best_?" Mai asked loud enough for Naru to hear.

"Yes." Mr. Grayson replied.

Naru had already moved to the center of second row and sat down; once more checking under the seat whilst Mai was distracting.

"Personally, I think this seat has me straining my eyes just a bit too much." Naru commented as he got up and moved to the third row. When he got to the seat he bent down, apparently stopping to tie his shoe. When he was finished he sat in the seat and made no move. He looked up at Mai. "This has to be the best seat in the house." He said finally.

"How on earth did you get it when you didn't move while sitting in the seat?" Mai asked once they were out of the theater.

"I looked when I stopped to 'tie my shoe'." Naru replied as he took out the box with the hitogata in it. "And I slipped it in my coat pocket before getting up and sitting down."

"Oh." Mai annotated.

"Yes. Now where exactly are we supposed to drop this off?" Naru asked.

"Um," Mai replied pulling up the site. "Somewhere near ground zero. Left sign of Janus? What the heck does that mean?" she asked looking over at Naru.

Naru filed through the expanse of his brain and the facts stored there until he came to the one he was looking for. "Janus was a roman god; more specifically he was a minor god whose territory included doors." He answered. "So we need to drop the hitogata on the left side of a door."

"Ah." Mai's sound of understanding reached his ears seconds later. "So what door are we looking for?"

"Try an exact search of the address." Naru advised.

Mai did and when the name of the spot came up she blanched. "It's a church called St. Paul's."

Naru let his somber look gain a whole new level. "Really?" he choked out. "They must love to torture us then." He said not really believing that they would have to put an object that could be of no possible good to the world in a place where people who had been rescued from the rubble of the falling twin towers had been placed during the mass hysteria.

Mai nodded. Though she'd lived here less than a decade she already knew what most people in the world knew. Ground zero was equal to sacred ground and so was St. Paul's church. There was no way she was going to be able to do this without feeling _extremely_ guilty. It was already bad enough that whoever came up with the game was sick enough to pull it into the twisted game of revenge they had for Mai and Naru, but if they didn't want their relatives iced they had no choice but to leave it there.

Mai looked at the clock on the PDA and sighed. "I'm not entirely sure we'll be able to get in and I don't care if you want to; I'm _not_ breaking into a church."

"Then that makes two of us." Naru replied hailing a cab. "I won't break into a church either. It's against my morals no matter what the situation. And besides that, I'm not sure Father Brown would be too happy about it either."

"Father Brown?" Mai asked.

"The blonde man you saw when you found me earlier this morning." Naru replied. "At any rate; if we can't get in then we'll find a safe hiding spot and leave it outside."

"Right." Mai said stepping into the cab. "St. Paul's at 211 Broadway." She told the driver.

When he pulled into traffic Mai stared out the window, the slow moving traffic and sounds of the city were slowly becoming like a mother's lullaby to her. She subconsciously heard Naru say something to her and snapped out of the dazed she'd put herself in.

"Huh? Did you say something Naru?" she asked sleepily, turning her head to look at him with heavy-lidded eyes.

"Getting a little sleepy, aren't we Mai?" Naru repeated what he had said before.

Mai yawned. "Yea, a little I guess."

"I told you to take a nap back at the hotel; don't you wish you had listened to me now?" Naru replied with a small smirk.

"Narcissistic jerk." Mai muttered before her eyes closed once more and she snuggled up against Naru's shoulder.

Naru wished the ride could last a little longer so she could get a few more minutes of rest. The poor girl must have been exhausted with all of today's -for lack of a better word- excitement. Alas, the world did not –although others might believe differently- revolve around him and his wishes and so the cab slowed to a stop right outside the building. Naru pulled Mai out and paid the fare before she could even touch her money. He made to reach for the strap of Mai's bag but she held it close and wiggled out of arm's reach.

"What?" She asked when he reached for it again.

"You're obviously tired you idiot." Naru explained. "So I'm going to hold the bag for you."

"But," Mai protested. "You have to be tired too. Just let me keep holding the bag."

"I believe that I, unlike you, had a decent night's sleep last night. Besides, I'm already used to staying up for hours on end without sleep. Some of those previous cases I mentioned earlier had enough paperwork to keep me up until midnight." Was his response. "Now let me carry the bag."

"If you say so." Mai sighed as she handed over the bag to Naru. He adjusted it to fit his height and Mai thought it made him look like he was a college student carrying all the assignments he needed to complete tonight.

"Now," Naru said making the previous thought disappear completely. "Any ideas on how to get in?"

"Try the door." Was all Mai said in reply. Both were too grim just being in the same place as the tragedy to say much to each other.

The front door and main entrance to the church was locked, but upon closer inspection of the building they found a small side door that had been left unlocked. Naru went to pull it open for them.

"Knock first." Mai said stopping him.

"Knock?" Naru repeated.

"Yes knock, I feel guilty enough that we have to leave this object of complete evil in this place that has so much meaning for families of 9/11 victims. The least we can do is let someone know we're here rather than just go in, drop this _thing_ off, and leave." Mai replied.

"Very well." Naru sighed as he knocked solidly on the heavy wooden doors.

A few minutes later a priest arrived looking puzzled that two people as young as Mai and Naru were; were here at this time of night.

"I'm very sorry father." Mai began. "But do you think we could take a look inside?"

"We won't be taking up much of your time." Naru added. "We just wanted to say a small prayer while we were in the area even though it's not typical operating hours for the church."

Mai somehow knew Naru was not lying when he said this part. And even if he was that wouldn't stop Mai from offering up a prayer of her own.

"I would never stop that." The father replied. "But since it _is_ after hours I'll just be watching over from nearby. You don't mind do you?"

"Not at all." Mai assured him. The father let them inside. "Whoa. What happened to all the pews?" she asked noticing that the majority of the seating arrangements were chairs.

"The seating is like that so we can maximize the small space for events." The priest, a man by the name of Father Mychael, explained. "Most of the other pews were removed for the exhibit on 9/11. The few that remain are more historically famous. But I'll let you say your prayers."

Mai and Naru knelt in a pew and Mai said a quick prayer for the spirits of the dearly departed. She felt a shiver run down her spine and she looked up quickly. She nearly screamed. Standing at the altar were transparent people, all looking at her and Naru with sad and wistful smiles on their faces. Mai blinked and rubbed her eyes, they were gone. Naru finished his prayer and looked up to find Mai staring off into space.

"Mai?" he asked. She didn't respond. "Mai? What are you looking at?"

"People." She said with her right eye slightly twitching. "I saw dead people standing at the altar Naru. I saw dead people!" she shouted in a whisper.

"Oh? Then it appears you must be able to see spirits as well. Very interesting…" Naru trailed off.

"Can we focus on the fact that I have powers no one else I know has _later_?" Mai asked. "We still have to drop off the box."

"Right." Naru agreed. "Father Mychael? Where can we leave a donation?"

When at the donation box Naru placed the box with the hitogata in it inside and covered it with some money he tossed in as well. Mai added her amount which Naru was currently unaware of how much it was. They made their way out of the church quickly and Mai panted once on the sidewalk.

"I feel guilty." Mai said. "I'm really gonna need to go to confession after this."

"Now is not the time for jokes Mai." Naru reminded her. "I feel slightly guilty as well, but we had no other choice unless we wanted our loved ones killed."

"I wasn't joking about that confession thing. But you're right about having no other choice." Mai agreed. Her cell phone rang at that exact moment. Mai pulled out the device in confusion. "Yasu?" she pressed the answer button. "What is it Yasu?"

Naru decided to tune out the girl and instead pulled out the PDA to find the next clue. A little disgruntled when there was nothing her decided to wait a few minutes before doubting that this was the right location. He looked over at Mai, who was hanging up quickly and forcefully. She was annoyed, and Naru was not going to doubt that she'd take out her aggravation on the nearest object; namely, Naru.

"Argh!" she shouted out to the sky. "He's coming." She said turning to Naru. "I already told him I didn't want him involved and yet he insists on following me here. We need to get out of here _now_."

"We can't leave yet." Naru replied. "There's no new clue yet so until we know this is right I'd rather not be far away."

"He's less than a block away Naru." Mai informed him. "We need to get out of here now."

At that moment Mai was aware of a presence behind her and she saw Naru reach for his pockets to get his throwing knives. She felt a large hand grab hold of her upper arm and she heard the sizzle of electricity as the world around her went black.

Naru kept his face schooled on the outside but on the inside he was fighting between feeling horror and rage. A lackey supported Mai's body as it slumped forward from the taser's effects while Yoshino grabbed him from behind. The lackey kept a knife of his own pressed to Mai's throat. The unconscious girl's head lulled forward and sliced through the first layer of skin, a thin necklace of blood running down her neck. Yoshino tied Naru's hands behind his back with thick zipstrips before reaching into the coat pockets and pulling out the weapons he had stashed there.

Once he'd been emptied of any and all weapons Naru watched the lackey tie up Mai before practically throwing her into the white van parked in front of the church that he had only now noticed hadn't been there before. The capture went off without a hitch thanks to the shadow of the other buildings they'd been standing in.

"Hurt her and it's the last thing you'll ever do." Naru threatened as he was pushed forward.

"I'd remember my place if I were you right now _Dr. Davis_." Yoshino laughed as he shoved Naru into the van from the middle of his back.

Once Naru was in the two felons closed the door and got into the front. Naru noticed that the windows on the van were vinyl stickers that would keep the police from suspecting anything and they were able to see through the back thanks to a closed circuit camera system. As soon as his eyes had adjusted Naru stood to try and weaken the metals of the door so they could break out when the van rolled forward with a start. Mai's rolled from one side of the van to the other and Naru decided to sit down and help situate her for when she woke up. When her head was settled in his lap he let out a sigh of relief. The blood was already dried and she didn't look too bad considering the level they must have had the taser set to.

"Uhh…" Mai groaned as her eyes fluttered open. She looked in front of her to see a wall of black that was, moving? She looked up and her face turned red with embarrassment when she saw Naru looking down at her. "Naru? What happened?" she asked.

"Yoshino and some lackey finally caught up with us and the idiot grunt tasered you." He explained keeping his voice low so the passengers in the front seat wouldn't hear them.

"That answers one question. But where are we?" Mai asked.

"At the moment we are in a van heading to who knows where." Naru replied. "Are you feeling okay?"

Mai swallowed and noticed that her neck felt weird. "Naru? Did they do something else to me? My neck feels weird."

"The idiot held a knife to your throat to get me to cooperate. They took all my weapons too." He told her and watched her eyes droop at the mention that all of his weapons were gone.

"We're in trouble aren't we?" Mai asked him quietly.

"Not yet." Naru assured her. "Gene and I are doing all we can to try and figure a way out of this."

"No offense Naru," Mai began. "But Gene's _dead_. What can he do?"

"You'd be surprised." Naru replied cryptically.

Meanwhile Yasuhara was pacing the sidewalk and muttering Japanese profanities under his breath. What else could he do when he saw his best friend and her new friend kidnapped without anyone doing a single thing. Mai already told him not to go to the police but he had to do _something_. But what?

As if he'd just been struck by lightning Yasu tore open his backpack and dug out the folder Mai had given him not too long ago and rifled through papers until he found what he was looking for. The address of a church with a Father John Brown presiding as one of the priests and manager of the orphanage there. He hailed a cab as fast as he could and hoped he could find John.

"Excuse me," Lin began. "But do you know where Kazuya Shibuya is?" asking a worker for the church.

The guy shrugged. "He's a popular guy today. Wonder why?" he went off into thought for a minute before calling over his shoulder. "Yo John! Someone's here for that stick in the mud again!"

"Hinata, could you please not address me like that?" a voice with a familiar Aryan accent replied. Lin saw John come into view. "Lin!" John said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Same reason as always." Lin replied. "Trying to keep Noll out of trouble. Is he here?"

"Sorry," John apologized. "He hasn't come back since he went out with that Mai girl this morning."

"wonderful." Lin almost groaned.

"Excuse me," a new voice came across. "I'm looking for a Father Brown."

"That'd be me." John replied. "Can I help you with something?"

"I'm not sure," the other person admitted. "But you were the first person there. So I came as soon as I could."

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're saying." John said.

"I'm Yasuhara. I'm a friend of Mai Matsuzaki." Yasu introduced himself. "Does that mean anything to you?"

"It might." Lin said turning to face the young man.

"Who are you?" Yasu asked in reply.

"Lin Kojou." Lin replied. "I'm an affiliate of Kazuya Shibuya." He added hoping the boy would recognize the name.

Yasu's eyes narrowed. "You're friends with _him_?" he spat out the final word like it was laced with arsenic.

"I wouldn't be talking about Kazuya like that if I were you." Lin warned darkly.

"Now please gentlemen," John broke in trying to keep the peace. "Let's remember we're in a place that belongs to God."

"I'm sorry." Yasu said letting his head hang towards the ground. "it's just, I'm worried about Mai and I was sure that that Kazuya guy was bad news."

"How so?" Lin asked.

"Mai told me that the two of them were being blackmailed and that they were trying to get something back." Yasu explained recalling what Mai had told him earlier in the library. "And to top it all off, I just saw them get kidnapped, Mai had been tasered and your friend was bound with zipstrips so whatever's going on can't be good." He noted the surprised looks and Lin and John's faces. "and… I guess you two know even less than I do about all this."

"And you haven't informed the police?" Lin asked in surprise.

"Mai told me not to." Yasu offered up as an explanation.

"At any rate, Kazuya and I work for the FBI; we're the law whether people like it or not." Lin replied. "The only thing I can currently think of right now is that they're trying to find Kazuya's missing cousin Kasai."

"But what does that have to do with Mai?" Yasu asked. "Why does she need to help him?"

"Maybe someone's got a family member of hers too." John thought. "I mean, she did come to Kazuya seeking him out rather than the other way round."

"Well we better move quickly." Lin replied. "It'll only be a matter of time before they connect Noll's missing cousin to him and then the law _will_ be involved no matter what anyone says."

"Why?" Yasu asked not understanding why all of this was happening.

"To make a long story short; Kazuya's a better detective than most and the main character of one of his more, unstable cases has a business here in New York. Unless I miss my guess she's out for revenge and that's why he and your friend were kidnapped. The only problem is that Noll came up here to disappear for a while and currently has a GPS blocker on his phone so we can't track him."

"I think you should be able to track Mai's though." Yasu piped up.

"She has a GPS tracker on her phone?" Lin asked.

"She's all about the high tech and I know how her father worries about her. It wouldn't surprise me if he'd gotten her a phone with one in it." Yasu replied.

"Well then, give me her number and John and I will go get her." Lin said getting out his cell phone.

"I'll only give it to you if I can come with." Yasu said seriously. "I want to help Mai, she's my best friend."

"We don't really have time to argue so fine." Lin agreed and quickly punched in the numbers Yasu recited for him.

"Do you think we'll find them?" Yasu asked. "Will we be able to help them if we find them?"

"I sure as heck hope so." Lin muttered under his breath. "But I hope you know some self-defense techniques just in case."

"I'll be fine." Yasu replied. He hoped they would be able to help the two who were heading God knows where in time.

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><p>so there you have it! i'm pretty sure i might have butchered Gene's character in this one but i never read the manga so i'm not entirely sure if this is how he would act...<p>

well, until next time review!


	11. Chapter 11

Hi everyone. this took soooooo long. I'm really sorry for the delay but school has just been so demanding and I've had other dieas swimming around distracting me from this. but it's finally finished abnd I can't wait to hear what you guys think. On another note, I have deicded to break topics in this story and have redone earlier chapter to fit with this one, I will be reposting them soon.

Discalimer: though it's at the top of my wish list, I do not own Ghost Hunt, but since thanksgiving is coming up we can all be thankful that Fuyumi Ono decided to create them.

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><p>Mai had had no idea how long they were in the van for. Nearly the entire ride -save for the time she'd been unconscious due to the Taser incident shortly beforehand- she was lost in her own thoughts, and the feeling of being cradled in Naru's lap. However, she was aware that the ride had to have been at least an hour and a half from when they'd been picked up. Mai snuck a glance at Naru; he was staring at the wall across from them, jaw clenched tight and mouth set in a thin line that portrayed the grimness of the situation. There was more to his expression than that, but Mai couldn't put it into words. She'd seen his stoic face all day long, even seen that rare smile of his when she'd needed it most, but this was an expression she'd never seen him with before.<p>

"Stay behind me." He whispered to her as the van slowly came to a stop. What good it would do them, neither had any idea since a bullet fired at them from such close range would go through both of them, killing both too if the angle was just right. But Mai said nothing and quickly complied. When the van doors opened they were greeted by the harsh white light only florescent bulbs could provide, the kind used only in storage warehouses. It was then Mai realized it was nighttime, making the glare of the electric lanterns all the more harsh and ache inducing. The glare, however, was coming from inside the building, and so the light only came from straight ahead. But there was just enough of it for Mai to make out movement in the dark and to see Naru being pulled away from her, a small grunt leaving his mouth as he was shoved in the stomach rather painfully.

"Naru!" Mai called as she too was pulled from the vehicle. "Let me go you piles of scum!"

They did not heed her threats, believing her too weak to actually escape.

Big mistake. Mai slammed her foot down on top of the lackey and wrenched her hands away from Yoshino. Swinging her foot out she connected with the jaw of a third man who had come to help Yoshino and the first lackey escort their captives inside. Whirling around Mai saw Naru fighting back as well, she had to keep back a grin of triumph at the thought that they could still get out of this yet.

Naru, on the other hand, was fighting back as best he could without losing control of his powers. He'd come especially close to doing just that when he saw how reckless and stupid Mai's attack had been. She could have gotten herself hurt for all that trouble and there was still no guarantee that they would get out of this. He'd just finished catching one of the other men who'd come to stop them in the gut when he heard the crackle of a gun from behind him, where Mai was in the general vicinity. Instantly he turned, eyes scanning for one thing.

He was glad to see she hadn't been hurt, her instincts kicking in and prompting her to duck to her knees. However, he was so concerned on making sure she was safe from the distance she was had he didn't notice the goon creeping behind him until he felt the butt of the gun smack against his occipital lobe (big sciencey word for the part of the brain that allows us to see). The world went black for a moment, and Naru felt himself slumping forward.

"Naru!" Mai cried in alarm, seeing the whole thing happen but too fear struck to warn him. She watched as Naru seemed to struggle with consciousness, falling to his knees in the process. She saw the goon who'd hit him slam the sole of his foot into Naru's shoulder blades, forcing the young psychic to the ground.

Mai turned to find herself staring at the barrel of a gun, and the one at the trigger was none other than the halfway insane Yoshino. She concentrated on not running like her instincts screamed at her to do.

"You know Shibuya." Yoshino said glancing over at Naru as he looked up to find the position Mai was in. "You really should learn to keep this bitch of yours in check. Shouldn't you?"

Mai felt a rush of anger and adrenaline. She stood, shoulders shaking in rage, completely disregarding the gun trained at her heart.

"_Excuse me_!" she yelled. "What did you just call me!? Where in hell's name do you get off calling me a bitch? And his bitch? Are all you men in the world seriously full of this chauvinistic crap!? First of all; I am not, repeat am _not_ 'his' in any way, shape or form. A woman does not 'belong' to the man she dates and I'm not dating him so it's not an okay thing to say. Second of all, even if I was dating him there is no way, shape, or form appropriate to call a woman a derogatory name like 'bitch'! You'd do well to remember that since hell truly hath no fury like a woman's scorn!" At the end of Mai's little rant there was stunned silence.

Naru was seriously contemplating just letting his powers loose for the way those punks looked at her; awe, shock, and pure carnal lust. If he'd been able to get up at the moment Naru would have killed those who dared to touch his Mai and then flick her for being so stupid and ignorant of the danger.

"Hello?" Mai prodded irritably. "If you're going to just stand there and gawk at me then I'd like to take my friend and leave please."

Yoshino then let out a deranged and manic laugh, the other cronies followed suit. Mai glared katanas at them all when two other men came out of the shadows and forced her down to the ground.

"Make sure their under control and kept secure." Yoshino ordered putting the gun in its holster and dismissing the lot with a wave of his hand. "Chris and I will return later." He nodded at the goon who'd been there to assist in their initial capture. They slid into a new car and drove off into the night.

Mai's instincts kicked in as she huddled closer to Naru in the throng of the unfamiliar mafial men. It was then she got a good look at their surroundings and deduced they must have been taken out of Manhattan, probably in the Bronx or somewhere of the like. They were stranded in an empty lot with three gigantic abandoned warehouses, one on each side. The fourth looked down at docks near a river, in other words; they were far from where anyone would be able to find them.

A man stepped forward and grabbed Mai by the shoulder. She was sure it would disconnect from the force he'd used dragging her up onto her feet. Unconsciously she must have cried out because she heard the sound of Naru barking an order at the man, but not the actual words he used. However, it did help to bring Mai back to her senses; she planted her feet and stood her ground.

"Let me go right now or I swear I'll start screaming so loud it'll wake the dead from the 1600's." She warned.

The man grinned and leaned forward; Mai could now make out a mole on his left cheek right near his lips and could smell the alcohol rolling off his breath as he wafted it into her face.

"Go ahead," He said with a smirk. "There's more than a couple beneath your feet. I'm sure they'd just _die_ to hear a pretty voice like yours."

Mai blanched. It wasn't mostly out of fear of him, more like from the disgusting smell of the liquor on his breath, the suggestive tone he spoke in, and the fact of the matter being that he probably wasn't lying.

"Let us go right this minute," Mai began trying to remain outwardly calm and composed though she was trembling like a leaf on the inside. "And I swear I won't report any of this."

"Like hell you won't." The man spat. "You're in our hands now and completely at our mercy."

"I swear to God…" Naru ground out through his teeth; his voice colder, harsher, almost subarctic and bitterer than when he normally spoke. The look on his face was absolutely feral, the look a predator gets when another kind of its species dares to intrude on what theirs, oh what his face would have looked like if he'd known just how perfectly Gene was mimicking his actions at the moment.

"You've got no leeway or options for debate here Davis." The man who held Mai spoke, cutting Naru off. Apparently he was the leader. "That's right, we know who the both of you are so your best bet would be to shut up and follow without hesitation. Let's go." He said to his fellow men. Mai and Naru started to struggle anew. "I wouldn't do that if I were you guys." The leader warned. "If you don't something might happen to that cute little cousin of yours Davis." The threat reached Naru and he froze. Mai glanced at him and saw Naru being murderously calm, but he allowed himself to be pulled into the warehouse. Mai followed suit without a fight. Once inside the bright lights shining from the outside were really just a collection of weak bulbs.

"What have you scum done with Kasai?" Naru asked once the goons had settled him on the floor.

"Watch it." the leader -Mai had then and there dubbed him Mole mouth- replied curtly without answering the question. "She's fine," There was a pause. "for now."

Naru let out a homicidal sigh but otherwise remained silent. Mai kind of wished Naru _would _say something because the look he was giving the men was really starting to scare her. She was so sure that no matter how much or how strong a resolve any man on earth had, that look would crumble it in a second and send shivers down their spines. In short, it would leave a heavyweight macho man groveling in fetal position on the floor sucking his thumb with tears in his eyes; that's how scary it was. It seemed like mole mouth was experiencing the fear as his grip on Mai tightened.

Mole mouth quickly regained his composure and looked at Naru with a cold smirk of self-satisfaction. "Keep it up and she won't be Davis." Naru glared from under his bangs but did not act as two men unbound him and dragged him further back into the warehouse, away from Mai.

"Naru!" she called surging forward. Mole mouth tightened his grip on her and spun her around to face him.

"Well well, why don't you and I have so fun?" he asked her. Mai felt dread form leaden in her stomach and its weight sink to the soles of her feet.

Mai now tugged even harder, trying in vain to escape. "Let me go you sick creep! Naru!"

"Everything alright boss? One of the men attending to Naru asked.

"Everything's fine." Mole mouth assured them, placing his hand over Mai's mouth to stop her screams. "I'm just going to take our little lost mouse and have some fun with her.

Mai looked toward Naru, she was sure the fear she felt was reflected in their depths. Naru's cold demeanor, turned subzero glacial and Mai was sure she thought she heard him growl.

"Let her go now, before I make your pathetic excuse for an existence a living hell." Naru snarled, starting to struggle against the men trying to bind him once more.

"Hah! You're not in the position to do anything to me Davis." The boss spat. Mai took advantage of the distraction to elbow him in the ribs and escape. She wasn't sure what she needed to do but her instincts told her to get to Naru and get out of there. Naru was able to wrench an arm away from one of the men and use the momentum to swing the other off. He took about two steps towards Mai when the men from behind jumped on him. Naru kept fighting them off as Mai tried to get to him and help. Still they were able to move forward and Naru reached out a hand to Mai to try and get her behind him where it was safe. His fingertips had just brushed by hers when the sizzle of a Taser filled the air and Mai went limp once more.

Naru's eyes hardened and he wished that Gene was alive, if that was the case then Naru could let go of his power and save Mai without bringing harm to himself. As it was now though, he couldn't. At least not without being put in the intensive care unit of a hospital for a few days. And although Mai was strong, he doubted she'd be able to drag him whatever distance they were away from society suffering from the aftershocks of a double Taser attack. He could, however, glare at the men as Mai fell backwards and into the arms of yet another goon.

Mole mouth grinned lecherously at Mai's unconscious form as she lay still yet alive in the goon's hold.

"Much better." Mole mouth declared scooping Mai up from where she was being held. Naru went to lunge at him but was stopped as the other henchmen he'd fought off tied him to a chair.

"You sure about that boss?" one of the men from behind Naru asked. "We were told not to harm her." Naru was a little relieved that she wasn't _supposed _to be harmed, but it quickly dispelled when he realized these men would not hesitate much longer if given the okay. He, on the other hand, could not do a thing since they had gagged him.

"It's fine." Mole mouth assured them as he walked towards an office building on the far wall. "We'll all take turns, and this timid little thing won't say a word. Now will she?" Naru growled against his gag and tried struggling against the bindings, but they were tight; not able to be released by human hands. Mole mouth eyed him amusedly. "Secure that one." He ordered turning away. "And don't bother me for anything until I'm done."

"Can't you go any faster?" Lin asked irritably.

"You know, I _would_, if I could do so _without_ getting arrested." Yasu replied with sarcastic sweetness.

"You're just under the speed limit." Lin argued.

"Yes, but as I've said _before_ I only have a paper license." Yasu batted it off.

"Why do you not have a real license?" Lin asked.

"Because driving in this town is close to suicidal and I can walk or take a taxi anywhere I need to go. Why waste all that money which could be used for something more important paying off a car and its high insurance rates?" Yasu asked in response.

"Fair enough." Lin grumbled.

"Gentlemen, can we please focus on finding our friends?" John asked from his seat in the back.

"How far are they out there?" Yasu asked slowing in the line of traffic.

"Pretty far, but we're nearly there." Lin replied. "But we'd be there _faster_ if you'd let me drive."

"Note the traffic." Yasu told him. "What do you propose I do about that? And I already told you that this is my dad's car, he only let me use it on the pretense that I would be driving it." Lin said nothing as he took in the long lines of metal vehicles. "Like I said," Yasu went on. "This is why I got a paper license. I hate driving in this city."

"Agreed." John replied.

"And what? You think getting through D.C. is any better?" Lin asked looking up from the grid on which Mai's phone was leading them to.

"We're gonna argue about this?" Yasu wanted to know. Lin's device went off. "What's that?"

"The locater."" Lin replied. "Ms. Mai, well her phone at the least, is on the move."

"Where?" John chimed.

"Coming right towards us." Was Lin's answer. "And judging by the speed at which it's coming I think they're in a car."

"Where?" Yasu asked.

"Stay straight for now." Lin replied. "We'll run into them soon." He looked over at the college student. "You know how to fight, right?"

"What do you mean?" Yasu asked not taking his eyes off the road.

"Can you handle yourself in a fight? Do you know self-defense?" Lin prompted.

Yasu let out a nostalgic grin. "I was born and raised in this town, course I do."

"That doesn't put me at ease." Lin told him.

"I was the youngest of three brothers. Both of them liked to beat on me, they taught me how to fight back and when it was okay to fight dirty. Most important thing they told me was to never throw the first punch."

Lin glanced out the side window; he was starting to like Yasu.

"So, we're all keeping an eye out for this white van?" Yasu suggested.

"Agreed." The other two men in the car said in confirmation.

"I don't think there'll be too many other people where we're going." Lin added.

"Where are we going exactly?" Yasu asked. The map Lin had up earlier only gave a general area and approximate location of where Mai and Naru could be.

"Some docks down in the Bronx." Lin replied. He bit back a swear when Yasu swerved into another lane.

"Well why didn't you say so?" Yasu told him. "I know a shortcut."

A headache conveniently started its assault on his mind but Naru could not feel it. Nor could he feel the ropes digging into his skin or the gag stuffed in his mouth nearly choking him. All his focus, and a great deal of the fear he rarely let himself feel was on Mai and what was happening behind that office door. Though he rarely prayed, Naru prayed to any god that was out there that Mai would be safe and not actually harmed. He couldn't hear anything from where he was; chained to a wall since he was struggling so much and none of the goons wanted to be bothered with holding him down. Mai had disappeared with that creep just over five minutes ago, but Naru knew that guys like him didn't even require half the time to scar a woman for life. He felt fear, more of terror or panic really for Mai; she was still probably passed out and alone, unaware of what was going to happen to her.

Naru fought down a wave of nausea, the boss had promised all the men turns with her. Not only was that about as disgusting and low as a man could go, but Naru had made a promise to protect Mai; how was he supposed to do that while he was wrapped up like a Christmas present? He'd promised himself he'd keep her safe or die trying and yet here he was: absolutely helpless. There was an undistinguishable shout from the office, Naru wasn't sure if he needed to block it out or hope it was Mai signaling she was awake and at least somewhat okay. True to orders the men didn't interfere and Naru fought down a wave of instinctual adrenaline that said to screw the risks, use his powers and get Mai out of here. He needed to do something, but how? And more importantly: what?

"They're heading our way." Lin said quickly glancing at his phone. "In the opposite direction." The car's three occupants looked to the left to see a black SUV being the only car heading down the road.

"Are you sure?" Yasu asked. "I saw them get taken by a white van, not a black SUV."

"I'm positive" Lin affirmed. "Besides, according to the tracker they just passed us." He remarked as the enormous vehicle drove passed them.

"So we're sure it's them?" John asked.

"Yes. Find a spot to turn around." Lin ordered the driver.

"Yessir!" Lin was sure if Yasu could have saluted, he would have.

As discreetly as he could, Yasu turned around and started following the sports vehicle.

"Now what are we supposed to do?" Yasu asked, whispering though he knew the people in the other car couldn't hear him.

"We follow and hope they pull over long enough so that we can get Noll and Mai out of there." Lin replied.

They followed it to a run-down yet still working gas station, not pulling up to refill.

"That didn't take long." John commented. Per Lin's instruction, Yasu drove past the station and into an alley within sight of where they were headed.

"And now?" Yasu inquired.

"Hopefully we'll get lucky. One will go in and we can take down the other." Lin said drawing his gun.

"Looks like we're getting lucky." Yasu said pointing to Yoshino getting out the driver side door. "He's pretty big." He commented.

"Maybe so," John agreed. "but it isn't size that counts, it's skill."

"I guess…" Yasu replied starting to open the door, wondering why a priest would know something like that.

"No." Lin's voice stopped him. "Only one of us can go. I'll do it."

"But Lin," John protested. "You need to take care of yourself, for Kazuya's sake. I'll go instead."

"What do you know about approaching a guy who's behind the kidnapping of our friends?" Yasu asked as the blonde slid out the door and started walking towards the car. He turned to Lin. "Lin? Why are you letting him go?"

"Before he became a priest, John was one of the most famous junior martial artists in Australia." Lin replied. "He practices in his spare time. Combine that with his exorcism abilities and he's definitely a force to be reckoned with when provoked."

"So why's he a priest?" Yasu asked watching John's progress out the window.

Lin shrugged. "Found he was happier helping people through God's work rather than hurting them with his own hands."

"Oh…"

Meanwhile, John had managed to subdue the other man in the car and waved the two over.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said he knew his stuff." Yasu commented looking at the unconscious man in the passenger's seat.

"Thanks mate, but Kazuya and Mai aren't here." John said sadly.

"Hey, that bag's Mai's." Yasu said pulling it out from the seat.

"Some of the other things belong to Noll." Lin added.

"Noll?" Yasu asked.

"Parent's nickname for Kazuya." John explained.

"Okay then. Well at least now we know that we're on the right track." Yasu said finally.

"Yes, but we won't know unless the other man comes back." Lin told them keeping an eye on the convenience store. When he caught sight of the man exiting he shoved everyone into the back seat and pulled out his gun. The man coming back from the store was carrying two large bags filled to the brim with prepackaged junk food. Lin held his breath as the man, Lin now recognized him as Yoshino, climbed into the front seat without realizing his lackey was passed out. "Long time no see Yoshino-_sensei_." Lin said slipping into Japanese to add insult to injury while the nozzle of his gun was pressed into the madman's head.

"Back at 'cha Kojou." Yoshino replied, his trademark manic grin faltering ever so slightly. "What? You get tired of babysitting duty after all these years?"

"No, more like you and your men took him while he was trying to get _away_ from you." Lin answered. "Now, be a docile little maniac and take us to them."

"What makes you so sure I had anything to do with this?" Yoshino asked with a smug look on his face. "You got any proof?"

"you mean _besides_ the cellphone we were tracking the belongs to one of the people you took, Noll's weapons which have his name carved into them, _and_ a witness who can confirm seeing you and your partner tasering a woman to get Noll to go along with you?" Lin asked just as smugly,

"damn." Yoshino muttered under his breath. "you got me didn't you?"

"hate to break up this little thing we got going on here." Yasu exercised his impeccable timing once again. "but who is this guy anyway?"

"worked at the same school as his present boss." Lin answered, not taking his eye off the madman in the front seat. "she went crazy 'hexing' everybody and when Noll caught her out she was sentenced to two years in an insane asylum. However, she was able to get out early for showing marginal improvement and good behavior. Once out in the open she built up a business here in the U.S. Noll and I have been trying to keep an eye on her ever since one of her employees carried out a 'special order' and killed his twin brother, though the bullet was really meant for him."

"What a mouthful." Yasu remarked.

"You said it." John agreed. "And there are many more stories to tell, but right now we need to get moving while it's still daylight."

"right." Yasu nodded. "Where is Mai?" he asked the driver.

"Ah, so you're a friend of that little spitfire are you?" Yoshino asked in reply.

"Yeah, so what if I am?" Yasu said.

"Got quite a few men riled up back there with her impromptu little lecture on gender equality. If I hadn't been so… moved and had it not been against orders I would have already shot her dead." Yoshino let out a humorless chuckle

Yasu cringed and wrinkled his nose in disgust, figuring out the hidden meaning behind Yoshino's word choice of "moved". He felt the need to vomit.

"Gag me now please." The college student managed to croak out. "And kill him while you're at it."

"Not yet…" Lin replied. "Now, I'm going to give you a choice. Either take us to Noll and Ms. Mai right now, or I believe god would deem it worthy for John to throw a couple of punches at you."

"That scrawny little holy man?" Yoshino barked out through peals of laughter. "He couldn't hurt a fly!"

"That 'scrawny little holy man' took out your friend there in less than a minute." Yasu informed him.

Yoshino gulped and started the car.

"Nice to know you see it our way." Lin smirked.

Mai could literally think of a ton of reasons for why Mole mouth would feel the need to rape a girl. However, not one of those reasons justified the act and Mai was only going to let it happen to her when she was dead and buried. Wait, scratch that, not even then. Thankfully, her body had apparently gotten used to the electric shocks that came with being tasered rather quickly and as a result woken up rather quickly as well. However, Mai's instincts had told her it would be in her best interest to continue the act of being unconscious until an opportunity presented itself. That was proving rather difficult however, as she felt her skin crawl from contact with this revolting man who didn't even bat an eye at the suggestion of raping an unconscious woman, or even possibly an unconscious female period. While Naru was being restrained by ropes Mole mouth carried her into a gutted office and placed her down on a cot near the far wall.

Barely cracking one eye open, Mai watched as Mole mouth started pacing the very small office expanse, chewing his fingernails and muttering as he did so. Apparently he did not notice that Mai had woken up. Mai decided to use that to her advantage. She let out an audible groan and acted as if she was just waking up.

"Uhh, what happened to me?" Mai asked groggily looking at Mole mouth while she stretched out her limbs as much as she could, still being restrained at the wrists with the zip ties.

"Had to knock you out for a little while." Mole mouth told her, the confidence he had earlier nowhere to be seen. "You were getting reckless and needed to be controlled."

Now, Mai didn't know a whole heck of a lot about psychology, but a pattern she'd picked up from watching way too many crime shows was that attempted rapists were usually too stupid and impotent to actually go through with the act as a result of nervousness. Clearly, the case was the same here as Mai could tell her was extremely nervous around her. This was definitely to her advantage.

"Yeah? I guess so…" Mai replied rubbing the back of her head as she yawned again. She wasn't making a totally obvious effort but she was trying to placate his ego.

"It ain't gonna do you any good sucking up to me now." Mole mouth said blatantly trying to intimidate her. "Not gonna do you or your friend any bit a good."

"I realize that." Mai told him, letting her head hang low and her bangs cover her eyes. The admission seemed to get his attention. "I've no choice but to do as you say," she brought her arms around herself as though she might fall apart. "or else you'll hurt Kasai and my parents. They're here right? Are they safe?"

"They're not here." Mole mouth replied.

"Where are they then?" Mai persisted. "Are they safe?"

"They're at the old Jargon paper warehouse out in long island. And they'll be safe and sound long as you do what you're told." Mole mouth replied, his confidence returning as he took in Mai's "fear"

"Of course." Mai complied. "But, if I may ask, why? Why plan all this? I just don't get it."

"My plan?" mole mouth asked surprise evident in his voice. He let out a dark chuckle. "Much as I'd like to take credit for all this girlie it wasn't my doing; it was the higher ups planned this. But I think I'm entitled to a little early reward for all my hard work." He continued, his face twisting into a lecherous grin as he finished.

Mai forced herself to shudder in "fear" as Mole mouth dragged his eyes up and down her body. It seemed to please him greatly and he moved closer to the cot she lay on.

"Who else is above you?" she asked, the fear she'd been falsifying becoming slightly less fake as she struggled to sit up.

"Does it matter?" mole mouth asked in response. "After all, _I'm_ the one you have to deal with now."

"I just want my family to be safe…" Mai said looking down as tears filled her eyes. "Can you do that for me?" she forced herself to act submissive as though she was genuinely breaking and ready to give herself to this man to protect her loved ones.

"I can." Mole mouth told her, grasping her chin with his clammy hand in a cliché movie move where the male was seducing his female companion, a move he was failing miserably at. "If you promise to be a good girl and do as I want you to." Mai acted as though she was both fearful –which on some level she was- and mesmerized at the same time.

She let out a sigh, trying to keep her mask in place as she contemplated on the best way to take this miserable excuse for a human being down. She didn't bother trying to weasel any more information out of him since she doubted he knew much more that what he'd already told her. And that was a whole heck of a lot more than she thought he would.

Very suddenly, Mai noticed Mole mouth leaning in to kiss her and if her hands had been free she would have hit him. But as it was she could still cause him damage. She waited until his eyes were closed and then slammed the heel of her foot into the joint of his knee. A place bound to cause pain, as Mai already knew from an accident where she fell down the stairs the wrong way. As Mole mouth hissed in pain, Mai then took her foot and got him in the chest. Winded, he fell back and Mai used the opportunity to jump up off the caught. However, Mole mouth recovered faster than she had anticipated and he swept a leg of his own under Mai's feet. She fell back on her hands and Mole mouth hovered over her menacingly.

"You are _extremely lucky_ I don't hit girls." He growled at her.

"But tasering and attempting to rape me are okay?" Mai asked.

"You want it." mole mouth informed her, his voice dripping venom and confidence. "All the whores called women do." Mai rolled her eyes at him and he came close to losing it. "I couldda been a nice guy about this," he said scooping Mai up and setting her on her feet; ripping her jacket down as far as he could with her arms still bound. "But you just _had_ to go and pull that little stunt, didn't you?"

"Little stunt?" Mai asked in surprise. "What, you mean _self-defense_? The same thing every woman does when she's in danger of being raped?" Mai narrowed her eyes at the pig before her and kicked him where it counted. He fell to the ground writhing and Mai sent him a cool smirk. "And Naru thought that men would cover that spot first." She said to herself, shaking her head. "Guess he was wrong."

Mai made her way over to the desk and rummaged through the drawers as best she could. All she found was half of a pair of scissors with an extremely dull blade. Not very good but for the moment it was the best Mai had. She began to saw through the plastic ties that bound her wrists hoping to god the Mole mouth would stay on the floor while she freed herself and tried to rescue Naru. She knew he was trapped because if he wasn't she wouldn't be fighting like this, he'd have already come in and saved her. Mai knew she had to free her hands to open the door, but what was she going to do when she got free?

"So," Yasu asked. "how are we supposed to do this? Go in with the victory flag held high? What?"

"_You're_ not doing anything until I make sure Yoshino is telling the truth." Lin replied. They had already driven past the building Yoshino had said Naru and Mai were being held in twice but Lin was taking no chances. He slid out the side door and crept to the building, looking through the window.

Yasu watched as John crawled into the front seat, happy to be away from those who wished to do evil.

"You know, your friend is very interesting." He commented.

"I believe you." John agreed. "But Lin and I aren't technically friends."

"Oh?"

"Technically Lin is more of an acquaintance than a friend; we only know each other through Kazuya. In actuality; this is the first time we've spent longer than a few hours in each other's company."

"Really? How did you meet Kazuya?"

"Well you see; I came here to the states when I was about seventeen. I was walking down the streets trying to find my way to the local parish and that's when I ran into Kazuya for the first time. I started helping him and his brother when they needed exorcisms."

"What's up with Kazuya and Lin?" Yasu wanted to know.

"Kazuya's parents are very overprotective of him, so Lin works as his bodyguard." John explained.

"Yeah? What's Kazuya's story anyways?"

"There's not really much of a story to tell." John shrugged as he lied. In truth, he knew that the events in his friend's short life would probably be enough to fill up quite a few lengthy volumes."

"Sure, okay then." Yasu knew he was lying, it was something he was good at spotting being a professional yarn spinner himself. There was something more to Kazuya Shibuya, especially with the way he and Mai acted around each other. Mai was like his little sister, one he intended to protect the best he could. He might not have known her the longest but he had never seen her act the way she was around any other guy she'd dated before and he didn't want her to get hurt. Yasu chuckled under his breath at the irony of that last thought. Here he was worrying about Mai getting her heart broken when she was probably facing physical pain at the moment. Both men sat in silence until Lin returned.

"Well?" John prompted.

"Noll's wrapped up like an extravagant Christmas present, and there are about four other men near him. Thankfully they're too preoccupied with a game of poker." The older man informed them.

"And Mai?" Yasu couldn't keep the anxiety out of his voice.

"I didn't see her, doesn't mean she's not here though." Lin replied.

"Okay then, what's the plan?" Yasu asked sliding out the car door.

"First thing's first," Lin said. "we knock out Yoshino and make sure that those bindings are secure."

"Let me take care of that mate." John volunteered. He was in and out of the car in less than three minutes. "Knowing where pressure points are comes in handy when facing a larger opponent." John answered Yasu's questioning look.

"Now what?" Yasu turned to Lin, more than happy to let him take control of the situation since the college student felt his hands start to shake.

"I'll show you where to go and what I'll need you to do." Lin replied leading them over. "Those four men don't look like they're skilled in fighting so they should be easy to subdue. Now listen carefully, here's the plan…" Lin showed them the positions and jobs they were supposed to handle as they looked through a smashed window and he repeated it twice to make sure his companions understood. "Any questions?" Lin asked. The men shook their heads. "Good, Yasuhara; you know what to do."

Yasu nodded and ran to the other side of the building and grabbed a rock from the ground. He threw it at the window, the reverberating crash loud enough to alert those inside. He did it again and heard footsteps coming towards him. Two of the four came out and looked at him.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing kid?" one of them asked.

"Breaking windows, why?" Yasu replied cheekily, throwing a third rock towards another window. "And I'm not a kid."

"Why you!" the second one made to lunge for Yasu. A voice rang out.

"Now, now." Lin said stepping from the shadows, his gun aimed at the two. "Let's stay calm, okay?"

The two men reluctantly nodded their agreement. Lin allowed himself a smirk as the two men moved closer to him on their knees, hands behind their heads. A scream broke out, loud enough to be heard through a wall and the broken windows.

"Mai!" Yasu cried, starting to run.

"John!" Lin turned his attention to the priest. "Go and hold him back!"

"Right!" John ran after Yasu.

The two men saw their chance now that Lin was distracted. The first one jumped up and kicked Lin in the wrist. The pain forced him to drop the gun, and the two men he'd had under control ran to the warehouse.

John had managed to try and restrain Yasu, but seeing the men run he let go. Unfortunately both men went for the same goon; leaving the other to escape inside and alert his comrades.

"Now what?" Yasu asked from his position; sitting atop the goon while John tried to apply the pressure point maneuver.

"Good question." Was Lin's cryptic reply.

When the first rock shattered the window closest to him Naru wasn't quite sure what to think. By the time the second rock was thrown he was already figuring out a way to get free. Thankfully two of the goons who'd been "watching" him ran out to see what the commotion was all about. A familiar voice answered their demand and Naru's eyes widened.

'_Yasuhara?'_ he thought. _'What's he doing here?'_ now, Naru wasn't completely sure it was Yasu, having only met the man once before this very day. Yet another rock shattered glass and Naru began struggling against his bonds once more, the chair he was sitting in creaking in protest. The other two men noticed this and went to secure him better. Seeing how tightly he was restrained already didn't leave for much option other than completely wrapping him in ropes. Except… Naru was hoping they wouldn't figure that one out. Luck just didn't seem to be on his side today as they secured a rope in a hangman's noose knot, securing the other end to the hook on the wall the chair was chained to. The idea of this was to keep their prisoner from struggling lest he cut his air supply off.

However, the men were a little overzealous and tied the knot so tight Naru couldn't breathe even though he wasn't struggling. He kept up trying to get free, and his mind was starting to hallucinate as he slowly suffocated. One of his increasingly lessening conscious thoughts was the hope that whoever was out there would hurry up.

"I vote going in brandishing guns." Yasu suggested.

"I'm the only one of us who has a gun at the moment. And you better believe that all the men in there are at least lightly armed so the answer is no." Lin countered.

"Aww! You're no fun!" Yasu whined.

"This isn't supposed to _be_ fun." Lin reminded him.

"Lighten up Lin." Yasu replied looking down at the man he'd tackled and John had incapacitated. Lin went to reply when John cut in.

"I think we should be coming up with a plan." He suggested.

"How 'bout a human shield?" Yasu asked with a grin, looking once again at the unconscious man they had with them. "Hey, I was only kidding!" he protested when Lin glared at him. A long pause followed. "Alright then, what would you do if we were doing things by the FBI's rule book?"

"Not really sure," Lin replied. "the worst case we've ever underwent while working in the FBI was a spirit in Salem where anyone who saw it was immediately met with severe misfortune. Gaunt tattered man, very gruesome death."

"I think I've heard of that." Yasu said; a hand on his chin in thought.

"You have?" Lin asked, raising an eyebrow dubiously.

"Yeah, Mai and I love reading ghost stories. One of them had a story about this guy, Giles Corey I believe his name was. Only man during the Salem witch trials not hung after his accusation." Yasu replied.

"I don't think I've ever heard about that." John said looking at Lin.

"In short, he was pressed to death 'cause he wouldn't plead guilty or innocent. But apparently the law allowed people to torture confessions out of prisoners. He was crushed to death under the weight of theses pressing stones and the weight of the sheriff overseeing the torture. The book said that before Corey kicked it he placed a curse on Salem. Since that day a ton of tragedies occurred. It even said that Corey's ghost could be seen around the graveyard he was buried in. Apparently seeing his spirit was to warn of a bad omen or that one had already passed. Other than that, he's supposedly fairly benign." Yasu finished his explanation, slightly out of breath and making sure the man they'd captured wasn't waking up.

"impressive." John finally said.

"Thanks," Yasu replied. "now; since we don't know what could happen, how about a happy medium?"

"What kind of medium?" Lin asked; curiosity piqued.

Yasu motioned them closer and began to whisper.

The black spots threatening to take over his line of sight were now turning all sorts of different colors. Naru felt his eyes trying to roll back into his head and leaned back to give the rope some slack. However, there was only so much slack he could let himself have before the chair threatened to tip back and hang him. He was still conscious enough to notice that of the two men that had gone out only one had returned. It was a good sign but whoever was trying to rescue them was moving about as fast as a tortoise, and the more time they took the closer he was coming to death. Another thought fought its way to the forefront of his barely-there mind. What was happening to Mai? As the meaning of it sank in he jolted and started struggling again. All that did was sufficiently give him rope burn.

'_no,'_ he thought. _'accidently committing suicide won't help me, and it definitely won't help Mai.'_

'_I have an idea,' _a voice said.

'_Gene?'_ Naru thought, stilling his minimal struggle momentarily.

Gene chuckled. _'I thought you were supposed to be smart. Can't even recognize me after becoming so infatuated with Mai?'_ he taunted.

'_this isn't the time for games right now Gene'_ Naru nearly snarled back. _Do you know of a way to get me out of this or not?'_

'_you could always manipulate the angle of the hook.'_ Gene replied matter-of-factly. _'you'll end up on the ground and you might find it a bit tough to breathe but you won't have the risk of hanging yourself over your head.'_

'_and just _how_ do you propose I do that?'_ Naru thought. _'in case you haven't noticed; you're _dead_. I can't use my powers unless you're there to keep me from destroying myself.'_

'_think of it as spoon-bending,' _Gene coaxed. _'it'll only take a minimal amount of power to bend the hook so the rope can slip off and it'll be easier to breathe.'_

_I suppose you're right.'_ Naru thought begrudgingly. He proceeded to block out his brother in order to concentrate on the hook behind him. Normally he would be able to do this without worry since it was small, but normally he was also unrestrained. Using physical as well as mental power lessened the risk considerably, but there was no other way to free himself. He had just been able to fully concentrate and begin bending the hook when the doors burst open and a very familiar figure strolled in.

"G'day mates." John called cheerfully, the shock of his casual entry being the only reason why he wasn't full of bullets. "I wanted some time to negotiate with you all."

"What?" one of the men sputtered. "Just who the hell do you think you are?" the two others behind him debated on whether or not to go get their boss. "No," he said in regards to them. "he said he wasn't to be disturbed. Besides, won't take long to oust a weakling like him." He was referring to the fact that John did not have any weapons nor any visible, bodybuilder muscles.

"I advise against the use of violence mate." John said. "I do the work of god and I don't want to hurt you." Naru was really getting aggravated with how long this was taking his friend. The men laughed at John and walked in his direction. Naru knew it was pointless, unless they were armed with a weapon out of a sci-fi movie; John would be able to incapacitate them before they pulled the trigger.

"Hear that guys?" the man, apparently second in command after Mole mouth, asked; a condescending lilt to his voice. "This guy's a _holy man_, and he's gonna do something bad to us if we don't talk this out." He turned to John. "What're ya gonna do? Preach us to death?" he asked as the men started to advance on him.

"So, you don't care about your friend?" John asked, indicating the man who had not returned from outside.

The men's faces wavered. "Jackson can take care of himself. We don't hafta worry 'bout him." The 'leader' replied.

"So, you have no desire to bargain for this comrade of yours." John said, making sure this was what they wanted. The three men continued to advance on him; laughing all the while. "such a pity, I had hoped we could settle all this peacefully."

"peace don't mean jacksquat in this world." The leader told John. John merely nodded his response and turned to leave. The men weren't able to come out of their shock until John was almost at the door. They ran after him and were thrown back into a wall, lucky to be semi-conscious as Naru knew John was only using a minimal amount of his martial arts skills.

"Perhaps you want to reconsider your decision?" John asked them as they struggled to their feet. The goons didn't reply, choosing to strike again when Lin and Yasu burst from the shadows.

Between the three of them the fight would have been over relatively quickly, but gunshots went off and Lin forced the other two back, each checking their allies over for bullets. Naru would have tried to bend the hook once more but it took too much effort to concentrate while this chaos was happening around him. Instead he chose to work free the crude knots tied around his hands, all the while keeping an eye on the office door for Mai or the creep that had taken her in there. More gun shots went off and in the midst of all this one of the men set off a smoke screen. Everyone coughed as they stumbled around. Thankfully Naru had managed to free one of his hands just as someone knocked into him. Sending the chair backwards and; had Naru's hand not been free to brace some of the impact, he would have been crudely hung and on his way to the spirit world. The rope pulled tauter than it had been before and Naru had been struggling to breathe as it was. He felt his heart stop dead as a feminine scream filled the otherwise near silent air.

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><p>17 pages... in case you were wondering this chapter is 17 pages long. also, I had to do a project of the Salem witch trials and the curse of Giles corey was an actual occurance, and his ghost still does haunt Salem... Anyways, please review!<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

okay so not a complete chapter likes the ones I normally do for this story but I felt I could throw you guys a bone after the long long wait. I'm sorry but this has just made me lose all other zest for writing anything based off of something else. I know you guys absolutely love this story but writing and editing this just takes up so much time, time which I really don't have like I used to. plus, I have an idea for another story (which will be a completed oneshot) inspired by the Great Gatsby and I really want to finish and draft a published version of that before I finish anything else. Not because I love that story more than this, it's just easier to write for me because I can really connect with the plot and characters I'm developing. those of you who like the Great Gatsby might enjoy it when I finish writing it. Right now I'm still trying to build the relationship between two characters and make it really solid before moving on with the rest, as well as developing a killer backstory for a character I'm adding.

Anyways, in other news I have created a facebook page for my fanfiction account name, so feel free to look it up and like it if you want regular updates about my story progress or to give comments/complaints I'm all for constructive criticism people! Check out my profile because the picture I have there is also the profile picture for my FB page. But now back to why you're all really here; on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt nor the original idea for this story, however this is my take on it and I have changed it to fit the Ghost Hunt universe so no copyright complaints people because this is fanfiction people!

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><p>Mai kept hearing weird and somewhat fearful noises from outside the office but with the windows boarded up she had absolutely no idea as to what was going on. No matter what it was, Mai knew her own time to get free was running short, she had no other option to go on but the broken half of the scissors was taking a lot of time. On the floor Mole mouth was beginning to stir, Mai panicked and tried sawing harder. She really wasn't sure she could take the creep on again if she was still restricted from using her arms. Shots and shouts were heard from outside and Mai stopped momentarily. She looked at the door, waiting for something, anything, to happen.<p>

'_What's going on out there?'_ she wondered. Her concern for Naru was growing by the second. A groan resounded from the floor and Mai turned to see Mole moth blinking sleepily. _'Darn it!'_ she thought keeping up with the blade on the plastic. Thankfully, whoever was up there decided to take pity on her as the restraints finally broke. Mai resisted hesitating, running to the door as Mole mouth struggled to his feet. She had one hand on the knob while the other worked at the lock when more shots went off. The wood before her splintered as it was hit and Mai dropped to the floor, a scream most involuntary escaping her as she did so. She felt a burn across her upper arms but it was forgotten as hands tried to curl around her neck. Mai struggled but after a few seconds managed to throw Mole moth off her.

"You're _dead_." Mole mouth growled. Mai didn't doubt he was bluffing if she gave him the chance to prove it.

"Not yet." Mai replied, rising to her feet in a defensive stance. "Naru, please be safe." She prayed as Mole Mouth readied himself for the first attack.

Yasu felt a burning sensation in his eyes, nose, and lungs as he managed to get a door open. His vision field was foggy at best, even with his glasses on thanks to the smoke screen. However, as the smoke cleared he could see John and Lin standing over the men they'd been fighting against; each unconscious in his own right. The trio looked around to make sure the others were alright. When that was accomplished Lin scanned around more closely for his charge until he was located.

"Dammit! Noll!" Lin yelled running over to Naru after seeing the state he was in. He quickly produced a knife from under a pant leg, courtesy of a calf holster. Quickly and precisely Lin cut the gag around Naru's mouth and the noose around his neck. It was a moment that seemed an eternity where the dark-haired young man didn't breath. Thankfully Naru eventually gave a shaky cough and a few wheezes letting everyone know he was alive. Somewhere in the astral plane Gene let out a sigh of relief "Noll, are you alright?" Lin asked, helping him sit up from where he'd been laid on the floor as Naru struggled with the ropes that rendered his arms useless. John and Yasu were now helping him free while he struggled to retain his normal breathing rate.

"Wait a minute, where's Mai?" Yasu asked after the final knot had been untied and the ropes fell away. Naru, who was simply sitting blankly; unaware of his freedom, now sprung to his feet in a panic. He raced towards the wall, which was now nicely decorated with uneven bullet holes.

"Mai!" he called out hoarsely, running towards the door. From afar Lin, John and Yasu watched the boy.

Lin let out a smile and a soft chuckle, John looked on thoughtfully.

"He's got it bad, doesn't he?" John looked to Lin, who was still silently laughing, as he asked this question.

"Oh definitely." Lin agreed, his sides still shaking.

"What? Who's got what bad?" Yasu was thoroughly confused now.

"Looks like Kazuya's in love." John said in reply.

"Love? What do you mean he's in love? With who? The only person I've seen him with all day is-" Yasu stopped short as the answer smacked him in the face. "Wait, you mean to tell me he's in love with _Mai_? My tomboyish roommate Mai? I don't believe this. How can you tell?"

"Simple," Lin replied. "see how he's running towards the door like a convict runs after breaking free from prison?"

"Yeah," Yasu still didn't see how that meant Kazuya was in love with _Mai_ of all people.

"What was he like when you first met?" Lin surprised the young college student with the question.

"Umm," Yasu thought back to the first meeting he had with him. "Very calm and composed and confident and unafraid and…" Yasu trailed off, Naru was not acting at all like he had been before.

"Overall very emotionless right?" Lin clarified. Yasu nodded. "You see, Noll hasn't shown any emotion since the death of someone very close to him. And now look at him, running towards the door like it was the gateway to nirvana. He cares for her, a lot judging by his speed. It has to be love. But we'll let them figure all that out for themselves later."

"Oh…" Yasu said, nodding in understanding.

Meanwhile, Naru had finally reached the door; his fingertips just grazing the knob as it was thrown open. Mai stood staring back at him, a little roughed up but definitely and thankfully no worse for the wear. Both stood frozen in time for a moment, simply staring at each other before realization, relief, and mobility kicked in once again. Mai lunged at Naru; face colliding with his chest and arm wrapping around his torso as he returned the hug tightly. They did not have time to savor the moment as long as they wanted, but Naru had a more primary concern. He pulled back to look at her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, sparing a sweeping glance over her quickly checking for any signs of injury.

Mai nodded. "I'm fine, I think it's him you should be more worried about." She told him inclining her head back towards the interior of the office.

Naru followed her gaze and saw Mole Mouth sprawled out on the floor; bleeding profusely from a few… delicate places with a face nearly indistinguishable as one of a human being. Looking back to Mai Naru saw her smile at his questioning gaze.

"Do you doubt the power of the ultimate move now?" she asked, a weak yet wry grin spreading across her face.

Naru looked from her to the man and back again; shock clearly evident on his face. When it eventually settled he had to resist the urge to reward his woman for defending herself against that fool with something that should be saved for behind closed doors. He did, however, kiss the crown of her head and grace her with a smile. Her cheeks pinked as she sheepishly smiled.

Suddenly, her head jolted up as something occurred to her. "I know where they are!" she exclaimed somewhat breathlessly.

Naru's brow furrowed for a moment before he realized who she was talking about. "How did you..?" he began, before she interrupted.

"You know how you like to call me an idiot?" she asked. He nodded. "Well I think he fits that description _much better_ than I ever could." She replied by way of explanation.

"Let's go then." Naru said taking her hand and coming face to face with the three reasons why he was even _able_ to hold her hand. They'd been completely forgotten, once Yasu reminded him of Mai. Said girl seemed equally surprised to see them.

"Yasu? What on earth are you doing here?" she asked in slight confusion. The warehouse she'd left was in total disarray now with three of the four lackeys knocked out on the floor. Yasu, John, and a third man Mai didn't recognize stood watching her and Naru.

Yasu practically sprinted over to Mai and took her in as big a bear hug as he could with Mai's hand still being attached to Naru's. "I saw you get taken and wanted to make sure you were okay." He let go and looked her over. "You are okay right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Mai replied. "But why are you here?"

"I saw you and Naru get thrown into the van and I just didn't know what to do. You already said I couldn't go to the cops, I doubt they'd have believed me anyways, so I went to find John and well; here I am."

"Ah, now John I remember. But I think you're a new face." Mai said looking over at Lin.

"This is Lin Kojou Ms. Matsuzaki. Kazuya's coworker." John introduced.

"And my parent appointed bodyguard." Naru whispered to her.

"Actually, I think it's time I come clean. My real last name is Taniyama. You know; heiress to the Taniyama electronics empire back home in Japan." Mai said somewhat sheepishly.

Yasu's eyes widened. "My best friend's the heiress to one of the biggest foreign fortunes on the planet! How could you keep something like this from me?"

"Because of the way you're acting right now." Mai replied.

Whilst she and Yasu were in the midst of having this, odd, conversation. Naru looked to Lin.

"What are you doing here?"

"Nice to know your way of thanking somebody has gotten more direct since I last saw you." Lin replied cynically, raising a brow in expectation.

"While I thank you for the assistance I believe I asked you a question." Naru said.

"I'm trying to figure out what's been going on with you." Lin answered. "It shouldn't be surprising that I know something's going on."

"It isn't." Naru replied, somewhat aggravated that Lin and more than likely Madoka knew. Which in turn meant his parents knew something was up too.

Mai, seemed to be thinking along the lines of someone higher up knowing because she straight out told them. "You can't be involved in this."

"Quite the girl you have here." Lin said noting Naru's posture along with his earlier reactions.

"Only 'cause I'm the one girl who won't fall at his feet." Mai replied.

Lin turned back to Naru. "Kasai's involved with this, isn't she?"

His question brought Naru and Mai back to the task at hand.

"We're gonna need a car." Mai glanced at Yasu. "You drive here?"

"A little ways, but we took the psycho's car once he told us where you guys were." Yasu replied.

"Psycho?" Mai said aloud, before recalling Yoshino and his manic grin.

"Where did you park it?" Naru asked.

"Round back." Yasu answered and were nearly bowled over as Mai and Naru headed in that direction. "Hang on a second you guys!" he called after them. The two ignored him, muttering too low for him to hear coherently.

"Wait!" Lin called, going after them. "Oliver, I want some answers!" again, the duo ignored him and Lin cursed under his breath as he followed them out the door.

"Kazuya, I want to know what's going on as well." John said tagging along. Mai and Naru only paused to locate the vehicle.

"We'll need to find a place where we can get our bearings." Mai informed him as they finally spotted the ebony vehicle in the shadows.

"Can you guys knock off the secrecy for a minute or two?" Yasu groaned.

"Madoka may be dead!" Lin finally yelled.

Naru stilled, tense from head to toe. "How. Did. She. Get. Involved. With. This?" he ground out.

"Whoever's behind this has people everywhere." Lin explained. "The guy who got me a ride here was working for them and I don't know if Madoka went back to confront him. I cut off all communication efforts because I had a feeling you wouldn't want anyone involved."

"Correct." Naru replied. "Where did you put the keys?"

"Noll!" Lin yelled in exasperation. "Be serious here."

"Lin, I'm never 'not serious' when it comes to my job. And unfortunately; this is my job right now, but it's one I have to do without your assistance. And one of those risks is precisely why I don't want anyone else involved." Naru said gravely.

"Don't worry about us." Mai added. "We'll be fine, we can handle it."

"And just what is 'it'?" Lin asked folding his arms.

"We're not at liberty to say. But by saving us; though we greatly appreciate it, you're all already too much involved." Mai replied.

"I think they're right." Yasu stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged as everyone turned to look at him. "I've known you for a long time; I trust you on this."

"Yasu… thanks." Mai smiled at her friend. Naru nodded his assent and Yasu tossed him the keys.

"Might wanna remove the dead weight first though." Yasu commented as they reached the car.

"Dead weight?" Mai asked raising a brow.

"The psycho and a guy that makes me ashamed of belonging to the same gender." Yasu answered.

"Yoshino and a Neanderthal lackey?" Naru asked rhetorically.

"Noll, you've lost it if you think you're going on alone." Lin said.

"What? Am I not even here anymore?" Mai asked aloud. "Naru, the longer we stay here the more time we waste."

"You're right." Naru agreed as they came close enough to the car to see that the back doors were wide open.

"Aww!" Yasu whined. "They got away!"

Mai and Naru paid the man no mind as they closed the back doors on both sides and Mai slipped into the passenger's side.

"Noll," Lin held a firm grip on the driver's door while Naru tried to get in so they could rescue Kasai. "I'm not letting you leave here without answers."

Naru glanced at Mai; she gave him an almost imperceptible nod. "My apologies Lin." He said hitting the gas. The car revved backwards; Mai had slipped the gear shifter into reverse. Slamming his own door shut Naru put it in drive and swung wide to avoid hitting their rescuers as they left them in the dust.

Lin whirled to Yasu. "Why on earth did you let them leave?" he asked.

Yasu gave a Cheshire grin in response. "Did you forget? Mai's cell is still in the backseat."

Lin's eyes widened as realization hit home; Noll and the girl hadn't gotten away from them yet.

"Hey look, all our stuff is still here. And still intact thankfully." Mai said checking the back seat and grabbing her PDA to check the location. Naru spared her a side glance and noticed how pale she looked.

"And you're sure you're uninjured?" he asked. This was the first moment they'd gotten to themselves since being thrown in the back of the van and Naru's only collected assessment of the situation hadn't really been a good one given the circumstances.

"I'm fine, I was conscious just as he took me in the office. You don't have to worry about that." Mai assured him. "Though I don't think I'll be able to take another tasering today if I want to keep my memories." She joked. Naru didn't find it funny and pulled over to run a more thorough scan of her. "Naru? What are you doing?" she asked, unable to do anything as he parked the car and got out the door. He calmly walked over to her side and, opening the door, pulled her out to examine her. Something told Mai it would be in her best interest not to resist like she normally would and let him push her up against the car, his hands firmly grasping her upper arms. Mai winced, an action that did not go unnoticed by Naru and seemed to surprise her herself. They both glanced at her right arm and Naru pulled his hand away, a streak of red coating part of his palm and a barely visible stain evident on the dark material.

"Jacket. Off. Now." He ordered; his normally stoic voice taut and slightly higher than normal. Mai quickly did as he asked, able to tell he was reigning in whatever emotion he was feeling right now so as not to overwhelm her and partly because she herself was curious as to what happened to her arm. It was only when she pushed the jacket off she saw the tear in the sleeve, and winced again when she pulled her arm free from where the blood had dried the fabric to her skin. There was a wound there but before she could inspect it closer Naru beat her to the punch, prodding and examining the cut with a tenderness Mai had not before known he possessed. "Why didn't you tell me you were injured?" he asked, his voice soft yet glacial.

"I-I didn't know, honestly." Mai stammered, aware that he was probably feeling anger instead of panic because he knew it wasn't as bad as it could be.

"How could you not have known? This isn't the kind of thing easily overlooked." Naru said exasperatedly.

'_Easy Noll,' _Gene soothed. _'remember there was a lot going on around the time she was injured.'_

Naru decided to block out his brother.

"I, I don't know really." She admitted. "There was a lot going on at the time and I'm sure I was still running on adrenaline. I remember feeling a slight pain when someone shot at the door." A horrified look passed over her face. "Did I get shot? Is that what happened?"

Naru probed the wound for a moment more before meeting her eyes. "Looks like you were grazed."

"Grazed?" Mai repeated.

"Yes; the bullet cut your skin as it flew by, but it isn't in your arm. Consider yourself lucky; most others aren't."

"Gee, way to make me feel better." She retorted, rolling her eyes.

"I wasn't trying to."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Mai asked sarcastically, letting out a sigh. "But I guess it's a relief that I can still use my arm isn't it?" Naru said nothing; obviously it wasn't a relief to him. "Naru?" Mai said, tilting her head slightly as she moved closer. "Naru, it's okay. I'm fine, really." She soothed, even going so far as to place a hand on his arm.

"It's not _okay_ Mai," Naru ground out. "I know this probably won't come as a shock to you but I like being in control. I like controlling what happens to me and those around me and around y-" he cut himself off abruptly. "This whole situation has left me feeling quite out of sorts, and I'm not really a fan of it. Besides, I promised myself once this started I wouldn't let either of us get hurt. Looks what's happened so far. We've been shot at more times than we care to remember, been chased by more than one maniac, and have been placing cursed voodoo dolls all over New York. On top of that we _still_ don't know who's behind this. Forgive me if I'm not as jovial as you seem to be." He finished mockingly.

"Naru, I'm not as fragile as I look, and I think I've proved that quite a few times over the course of today don't you? Besides, without you I think I would have already been dead by now. Please don't sulk about this." It was then she noticed the faint red lines around his neck. "Naru what happened?" she exclaimed, hand automatically reaching out to trace the marred skin.

"Those so-called 'guard men' put a leash on me to try and keep me contained, and I was nearly hanged because of it."

"What were you doing that warranted the need of such a thing?"

"I was trying to get to you." The sentence was loaded, and both of them knew it. Naru sighed. "when I saw you get carried into that room, with the man implying just what was going to go on in there I felt like I was watching my brother's murder all over again. But this time it felt a lot worse."

Mai could have done a lot of things after hearing that, coming from Naru that was as good as a confession would be from any other guy. Had it been any other guy Mai would have made them speak again, made them clarify. But she didn't, instead she leaned forward and placed a single kiss to the mark on his neck; right in the hollow of his throat. She saw Naru swallow, felt his whole body go rigid for a moment, and then she was pinned against the side of the car before she knew what was happening. Naru held her at arm's length, staring at her unwaveringly. It reminded Mai of mere hours before when he had kissed her for the first time, and she secretly hoped the same thing would happen again. Much to her disappointment, it didn't. Instead, Naru sighed and squeezed her shoulders.

"We need to keep moving." He said roughly, drawing his hands away like she was some forbidden fruit. Mai, too breathless to speak, merely nodded weakly in response. "Somewhere along the way we'll stop and get a first aid kit, I don't want that wound to fester and get infected." He told her as they both seated themselves in the car.

"Naru I told you I'm f-" she quailed under the glare he gave her. "Oh fine, but only as long as you use some of the stuff to take care of that burn around your neck."

"You sound like my mother."

Mai smacked him on the arm for that and proceeded to ignore him for the rest of the ride.

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><p>so drop me a review and tell me what you think. also read and review my other works please, I put a lot of time and effort into my stories and when I get 3 reviews on a piece I worked really hard on I feel like it isn't worth it for me to keep writing.<p> 


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